The public hearing for the proposed revision of power tariff involving stakeholders of Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) here on Friday faced widespread criticism from consumers, political parties as well as farmers.
Even as the Left parties activists staged a sit-in dubbing the public hearing an eye-wash, Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) Chairman Justice G. Bhavani Sankar, members P. Rama Mohan and P. Raghu intervened and urged them to use the forum to vent their grievances. Interestingly, both the left and right wings of the political spectrum came together in flaying not just the upward tariff revision, but also gross mismanagement of power utilities and the neglect of the public sector.
Bharatiya Kisan Sangh State general secretary Jalagam Kumaraswamy saw a deliberate attempt to weaken public utilities to benefit the private sector. He suggested to the Commission to direct the government to strengthen APGenco to generate power at lower cost. CPI (M) State committee member Kandarapu Murali came down heavily on the government for deliberately neglecting hydel power generation to benefit the corporate sector. “While all the States have started slashing the power tariff, Andhra Pradesh is witnessing a retrograde step, which is unfortunate,” he said.
