AGARTALA, March 13 - If the present trend of pending electricity bill continues, the days are not far when Tripura State Electricity Corporation (TSECL) will be under a major debt burden.
It may sound unbelievable but the fact is that pending electricity bill of government departments and government-run PSUs has risen to Rs 33.86 crore, according to a reply placed in the Assembly recently.
If one adds general consumers� pending bills of Rs 97.68 cr, total pending bills of TSECL stood at Rs 131.54 crore.
While government departments have piled up Rs 27.39 crore worth pending bill, 28 PSUs seem a little ahead when it comes to pending bill (Rs. 6.47 crore).
While replying to a written question, Power Minister Manik Dey informed that five departments � Agriculture (Rs 56.15 lakh), Health (Rs 5.02 cr), Home (Rs 4.22 cr), Panchayats (Rs 4.94 cr), Rural Development (Rs 54 lakh) and School Education (Rs 1.16 cr) are major defaulters when it comes to pending electricity bill.
Even pending bills of Governor�s Secretariat and Secretariat Administration stood at Rs 1.91 lakh and Rs 19.14 lakh respectively till December 2016.
However, some departments like PWD (R&B), Planning and Coordination, Fire Service, Fisheries, Urban Development, Welfare of Minorities, Welfare of OBC and Science and Technology.
In the government-run PSU and other local bodies category, Tripura Jute Mills Ltd stood first in terms of pending electricity bill- Rs. 2.76 crore followed by Nagar Panchayat and Panchayat with Rs. 79.43 lakh. Surprisingly, of the total 28 PSUs and other local bodies, pending bills of TBSE and Tripura State Pollution Board is nil.
Besides government and semi government sectors, TSECL which is running on huge loss over the past few years, has pending bills of Rs. 97.68 crore from general consumers.
Few months back, Power Minister Manik Dey had a meeting with all departmental heads and asked them to clear their pending bills at the earliest. Even after the direction, the situation has not improved as shown in the report.
