With the Gruha Jyothi scheme all set to start soon, the Energy Department is now keen on recovering dues from government defaulters. According to sources in the department, in a recent meeting, Energy Minister K.J. George instructed the electricity supply companies (Escoms) to recover the dues as quickly as possible.
According to the reply to a question given by then Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar in the Cabinet meeting last December, various government departments owe over ₹7,771 crore in dues to the five Escoms. Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department, Urban Development Department, Water Resources Department, and Minor Irrigation Department were the top defaulters to the Escoms between 2019 and September 2022, showed the data provided by Mr. Kumar in the reply.
Between 2019 and 2022, the RDPR Department owed ₹3,312 crore while the Urban Development Department owed over ₹1,200 crore towards Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) alone.
“The new Minister has clearly told us to not cut power supply to these departments as it will cause inconvenience to the general public. As public service companies, we do not want the citizens to suffer. The recovery of dues from all government departments is important. Considering the situation, we are expecting all departments to cooperate with us in this regard,” an Escom official told The Hindu.
The collection of arrears has come to the forefront now as the government has to cover the electricity bills of over 2.14 crore domestic consumers. “To ensure that the burden is not passed on to other categories of bill-paying consumers, the government wants to be stringent in collecting these dues,” the source said.
