Srinagar: Lieutenant Government Manoj Sinha Saturday said that the J&K government had been incurring huge losses due to non-payment of electricity charges by the consumers. “We have taken a loan of Rs 31,000 crore from the Government of India in the last four year to provide electricity to the people of J&K. This kind of system cannot sustain for long,” the LG said responding to a query during a news conference at Raj Bhawan here.
He said that the process to convert smart meters to prepaid mode had started.
On protests in various areas against installation of smart meters, the LG said, “The consumers have to pay as per the usage of electricity.”
“It is the responsibility of the administration to take care of the poor. If well off people pay their electricity bills on time, it won’t take the J&K government a minute to come up with a policy for the poor. But we are incurring losses at present and at the same time people want round-the-clock power supply and won’t pay bills. This system can’t sustain,” he said. “I hope that well off people and intellectuals will pay their electricity bills and create a positive atmosphere.”
On a query about the delay in recruitments by SSB, the LG said that in the previous exams there were complaints of irregularities.
“The dates for examinations for freshly advertised posts will be announced soon,” he said.
“If we compare with other states, J&K’s employment rate is higher. There is a limit to government jobs and we are exploring means to generate alternative employment opportunities. In the ‘Back to Village’ programmes we identified 15 youth in each panchayats for self-employment ventures and help them financially. It is a pride that in the programme, 75,000 youth were given Rs 929 crore of financial help in a single day. Industrial investments are coming. Besides holistic agriculture development plan, 29 interventions focus on self employment,” the LG said.
