Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has come down heavily on the United Democratic Front (UDF) government for the load-shedding being imposed on consumers, accusing the administration of pushing the State into darkness.
In a statement here on Wednesday, Mr. Achuthanandan reminded the government of its assurance that power cut and load-shedding would be avoided by bringing power from wherever possible at whatever cost.
Pointing out that this was the second time after the monsoon began that load-shedding was being introduced, Mr. Achuthanandan said there was little doubt that the next step would be introduction of power cut. The flawed strategies and inefficiency of the Kerala State Electricity Board, close on the heels of an ‘unjustified’ power tariff hike, were putting the public into further misery.
Mr. Achuthanandan accused the government of conspiring to bring about further tariff hikes and privatisation. This had to be seen in the context of the Centre’s recent recommendations for reforms including tariff hikes if States required Central help in the power sector, he said.
He demanded that the tariff hike and load-shedding be withdrawn.
