MLAs cry foul over discontinuation of Akshay Prakash Yojana

Mumbai, Apr 16 (UNI) The Maharashtra government came in for flak from a section of the opposition Shiv Sena and BJP for discontinuing the Akshay Prakash Energy Conservation scheme.

However, the argument over whether the scheme should be continued or not gave rise to regional differences within the Sena-BJP ranks.

The issue was raised by Shambhuraje Desai (Shiv Sena) through an adjournment notice, demanding that the Akshay Prakash Yojana should not be discontinued.

Members like Rajendra Patni, Pratap Jadhav (Shiv Sena) and Shobha Phadanvis (BJP) defended the discontinuation of the scheme, saying that loadshedding pattern was not uniform.

Speaker Babasaheb Kupekar, who hails from Kolhapur district in Western Maharashtra said he had actively participated in the implementation of the scheme in his constituency and due to discontinuation of the scheme, people were in trouble.

Girish Mahajan (BJP) felt that there should be no discrimination in the loadshedding pattern being implemented across the state.

Members, supporting the scheme, said it was in force only in Western Maharashtra, where the transmission and distribution losses were the highest.

''Marathwada and Vidarbha have to pay heavily for the government's inapt handling of the good scheme,'' they added.

Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil said the state cabinet had given a go ahead to the state electricity board to purchase electricity at whatever cost. Energy conservation is a must, he said, adding that he managed to save Rs 1500 of his monthly electricity bill at his official bungalow.

UNI