The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) staged a protest against the hike in electricity charges and smart meters, in front of Vidyut Soudha here on Thursday.
The CPI(M) activists burnt copies of electricity bills and later submitted a memorandum to the CMD of CPDCL Padma Janardhan Reddy.
Addressing the gathering, CPI(M) State secretariat member Ch. Babu Rao said that the people have to wake up and protest against the electricity burden and pro-corporate reforms and policies of the State government. Under the garb of welfare, the government was destroying the power sector. The people have to understand this and gear up another power agitation, he said.
The true-up charges were a burden of ₹6,000 crore. In addition, the State government was coming up with plans to install smart meters.
The government was requested to stop collecting true-up charges at once. Also, the government was requested to cancel the tenders called for smart meters and shelve the proposal to install the smart meters, he said.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in the run-up to the elections had promised that the power charges would not be increased if his party was voted to power. He also promised free power to those who consume less than 200 units. But, in reality, a burden of ₹20,000 crore was levied on the consumers in different forms. The YSRCP government was blindly implementing the pro-corporate policies and reforms of the Modi government at the Centre, he alleged.
Instead of purchasing power at ₹3 per unit, the government was purchasing at ₹10 to ₹20 per unit, he alleged.
CPI(M) leaders Donepudi Kasinath, B. Ramana Rao, B. Satya Babu and others were present.
