Cadres of the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Thursday staged a dharna at the Electricity Department office opposing the hike in power tariff.
Businesses and industries in the Union Territory are already severely affected due to the ongoing lockdown and it will take more than three years to recover from this setback. However, the Puducherry Electricity Department has stealthily brought in the new tariff with effect from June adding insult to injury, said A.M. Salim, secretary of the Puducherry unit of CPI.
This is the third increase in the last four years and it was uncalled for, he said.
The CPI also opposed the power reforms announced by the Union Government that would ultimately lead to privatisation of the Electricity Department and said that this policy encroached upon the rights of the States.
