The Hindu : CBI probe sought into power meter affair

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Saturday, Feb 01, 2003

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CBI probe sought into power meter affair

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JAN. 31. The Lok Janshakti Party senior vice-president, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, today demanded a CBI probe into "State-sponsored loot of lakhs of residents of unauthorised colonies, resettlement colonies and slum clusters'' who were being fleeced by unscrupulous private contractors under the single-point meter scheme.

Two former Prime Ministers, V.P. Singh and H.D. Deve Gowda, along with former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and the CPI(M) leader Harkrishan Singh Surjeet will stage a demonstration in front of the Delhi Secretariat on February 9 to protest against illegal collection of hundreds of crores under this organised criminal loot under the patronage of the Delhi Government and a large number of ruling party MLAs.

Addressing a joint press conference here, Mr. Bidhuri along with Janata Dal(S) leaders Shoaib Iqbal and Jai Bhagwan Jatav said only a CBI probe would bring out the truth on who was responsible for fleecing lakhs of poor. The money being extorted was not going to the Exchequer and was being pocketed by the local MLAs. "It is unfortunate that the Government is watching the whole situation helplessly and not a single FIR or criminal case has been lodged against the culprits,'' they said.

Giving details, Mr. Bidhuri said the single-point scheme was started in 1999 by the then Delhi Power Minister, Narendra Nath. At present, there are about 2,500 private contractors handling this scheme in various localities. Till now around 10 lakh connections have been allotted and Rs. 4,000 per connection has been charged by these private contractors. In addition to this, Rs. 115 per meter developmental charges are being charged separately. The total sum collected under this initial charges alone runs into Rs. 400 crores. "It is unfortunate the Government does not have account of how many contractors are employed under this scheme and what the collections are.''

When this scheme was started, Mr. Bidhuri said the proposal was to entrust it in the hands of Resident Welfare Associations. But the contracts fell into the hands of undesirable elements. The scheme was hijacked by the MLAs, Congress party and their relatives who further employed goondas to collect money from the poor residents of these colonies. He said the single point meters of the private contractors were faulty and the local meters installed by them at the premises of the residents were of poor quality which often gave wrong reading resulting in inflated bills.

Further, Mr.Bidhuri said all the non-BJP and non-Congress parties would be meeting the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, very soon to demand a probe into this whole affair. The Government should come out clean on how much money has been collected under the scheme and what has come into the public exchequer and what gone into the pockets of political figures and officials.

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