Penalty exemptions to U'khand farmers on electricity bill

Dehra Dun, Nov 3 (UNI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri today announced exemption of penalty to farmers on pending electricity bills worth Rs 12.26 crore.

The exemption will benefit around 10 lakh farmers in the state.

However, the benefits of exemption could be reaped by only those who pay their pending bills by December 31, 2007.

Maj Gen (Retd) Khanduri announced this while addressing 'Kisan Panchayat' at Bhagoura village in Uddhamsingh Nagar district after inaugurating 132/33 KV power sub-station. He urged the farmers to pay their bills by December 31 so that they could get benefits of exemption.

The Chief Minister said they could pay their pending bills in instalments. However, the exemption would be in ratio to their payments. He asked the farmers to pay their electricity bills in time to avoid inconvenience and penalty.

Maj Gen (Retd) Khanduri told the farmers that his government was making efforts to pay appropriate prices for their crops. He said the state was already in debt of Rs 16,000 crore and the government was committing itself to take it out of the financial crisis nevertheless giving thrust to development process.

Interviews have been removed from recruitment process to maintain transparency so that worthy candidates are not left out, the Chief Minister said. He also urged the public to keep an eye on development projects in their areas and inform the government authority concerned if they found irregularities in their working process.

With the Power Sub-Station functioning here, the area's dependence on Uttar Pradesh for electricity had ended, Maj Gen (Retd) Khanduri added.

UNI