Varanasi: A missive by additional chief secretary (ACS) Navneet Sehgal, who also holds the charge of handloom and textiles department, has brought the hope of relaxation in power tariff for weavers operating powerlooms in the district.
The drive for realization of dues and disconnection of power supply of powerloom weavers has been put on hold by the electricity department after the copy of a letter (no. 188/63-vu-2021), written by the ACS (handloom and textiles department) to ACS (energy and additional energy department) Alok Sinha regarding the same was received here on Thursday.
Talking to TOI, superintending engineer Varanasi urban-II Deepal Agrawal said, “We have received the copy of letter written by ACS (handloom and textile industries). Through this letter it has been expected from the electricity department that realization of pending power tariffs of powerloom weavers and disconnection of their power supplies should be avoided till the state cabinet issues an order after submission of a proposal before it on relaxations in power tariffs to be given to them.”
Agrawal said that after receiving this letter, he had convened a meeting with executive engineers in which it was decided that no power supply disconnection drive would be conducted against the weavers and their powerloom units till UP Power Corporation Limited and energy department circulate new orders after clearing all the points concerned.
The provision of realizing power tariff on fixed charges basis had been introduced through a government order issued in 2006 during the regime of then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
However, in 2019 a new GO was issued to ensure that old provision is replaced by realizing power tariff on the basis of meter reading from January 1, 2020. Another GO issued in October last ensured that old provisions prescribed in 2006 would continue till July 31, 2020 and the norms prescribed in the 2019 GO would become effective from August 1, 2020.
Agrawal said, “Till the time GO issued in 2006 remained effective by 2019 end, the weavers were paying Rs 143 per HP per month. But since January 1, 2020 the new charges became effective after which the powerloom weavers had to pay the tariff on commercial rates after consuming the limit of subsidised units from 120 to 240.”
The dues of over 19,000 connections to powerloom units have gone above the mark of Rs 285 crores till July 2020 end, said power officials mentioning that as weavers leaders were claiming that their talks are continuing with the state government, the power disconnection drive had been avoided.
The power officials said that hundreds of weavers had even applied for disconnection of power supply mentioning that they can’t survive with the current tariff plan.
The city had also witnessed ‘murri bandh’ (closure of weaving machines) strikes by weavers for several days from August to November. The opposition parties also extended support to their agitation. Many weaving units were also closed while many powerloom machines were dumped in scrap.