Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today announced the rollout of its poll promise of providing 300 units of free electricity to state residents each month. In a public video message, Mann said that the scheme would be implemented starting Friday. He declared that from this month, Punjab power users would receive free electricity up to 300 units.
Bills from prior months may arrive, but not from this one. No matter the load, the units would be free for all customers starting on December 31, 2021.
Kejriwal had promised 300 units of free electricity to the state’s power consumers if AAP was elected to power during the election campaign last year.
CM Mann blasted past administrations for decades-long theft from the people of Punjab, saying, “While all former administrations needed five full years to keep their commitment, our government has fulfilled its key guarantee within three months of taking office. Every family in Punjab will begin receiving 300 units of free electricity each month as of today.”
Consumer billing cycles are likely to begin in mid-July, so PSPCL authorities are anticipating a notification before the start of the following billing cycle.
PSPCL figures show that 62.25 lakh of the 73.80 lakh home consumers fall into the 300 unit per month consumption category (i.e. 84 percent of the total consumers).
Power users are still wary about the free power announcement, though. They worry that the government will set requirements in order to receive this assistance. The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited ( PSPCL) is yet to get a notification on the free power issue.
Earlier in the morning, Arvind Kejriwal quoted from a report by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that the Delhi government had a revenue surplus from 2015–16 to 2019–20. He added, the numbers were the “biggest proof of its honesty” and “AAP’s honesty has deprived the opponents of their sleep.” Notably, residents of Delhi also receive a similar dole of free power as part the AAP government’s initiatives. The poll promise in Punjab had come in for severe criticism from opposition parties which stated that the economic situation of Punjab was in stark contrast to the national capital.