Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 30: The impasse over power tariff hike, which kept the house on boil for nearly a week, came to an end Monday after the state government announced to file a review petition before the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) to roll back the proposed tariff hike pertaining to agriculture.
Making a statement in the assembly, energy minister Pranab Prakash Das said, “The energy department will file a review petition before the OERC seeking rollback of the power tariff hike pertaining to agriculture.”
He further said, “Keeping in mind the interests of the farmers, the government will urge the OERC to adjust the tariff order through cross-subsidy.”
The state government has made a decision to go for a review petition considering the sentiment of the house in regard to power tariff hike, he said.
The house witnessed repeated adjournments over past one week soon after the electricity tariff hike was announced by OERC March 23. While the tariff for domestic consumers was raised by 20 paise per unit, the hike was 40 paise in case of agriculture.
The house was adjourned twice Monday. As soon as the members assembled for the day, the opposition members rushed to the well and raised the issue. Countering the move of the Opposition, the treasury benches also created a ruckus over the pulling out of three Central PSUs-MCL, RSP and Nalco- from the ‘Aahar’ scheme of the state government. Unable to run the house, Speaker Niranjan Pujari forced to adjourn the proceedings till 12.50.
When the members reassembled at 12.50 pm, the energy minister made his statement following which the house adjourned again till 3 pm.
Speaking to the media, Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said, “The government has partially accepted the demand of opposition. Had it been fully accepted, things would have been better.”
He and other members of the house including members of the BJP, however, agreed to cooperate with the government for smooth functioning of the house. Normalcy prevailed when the house reconvened at 3 pm.
