Assam CM announces end of ‘VIP culture’; public servants to pay power bill from July

Guwahati, June 17: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday ended the decades’ old VIP culture of paying electricity bills at the residences of state cabinet ministers and high-ranking officials with tax payers’ money.

He made the announcement on the day when the Assam Secretariat became India’s first green state government headquarters with the inauguration of a 2.5 MW solar power project.

Sarma said, “We usually find that the electricity bills of the residences of our minister and senior government officers or the residences of the secretariat are paid by the government. This has been going on for 75 years. It is not a new system.”

“This system is going to change to ensure that the electricity board does not have to increase electricity charges in lieu of the losses incurred due to the existing VIP culture. Even though I have been enjoying free electricity for three years, I was not aware. I learned about it recently during the course of a discussion. I hope this will help the electricity board,” he added.

The chief minister said that he would set an example along with the Chief Secretary of Assam by paying the power bill from July 1.

He stated that all public servants will have to pay for their own electricity consumption.