‘Flat rate’ for electricity scheme: Varanasi weavers fume over ‘heftier’ power bills
Powerloom weavers in Varanasi are opposing a relaunched ‘flat rate’ for electricity scheme in the state, alleging that they have to shell out five times more money under the new norms.
After recently taking out a protest rally, a group of large number of weavers wrote to chief minister Yogi Adityanath and prime minister Narendra Modi demanding rollback of the revamped scheme. They demanded that they be charged ₹2- ₹2.50 per unit for connections of up to 75 kilowatt (kW) as per the previous scheme.
The Atal Bihari Vajpayee Powerloom Weaver Electricity Flat Rate Scheme, approved by the state cabinet on April 5 this year, is an amended model of a similar 2006 subsidy initiative for providing electricity to powerloom weavers.
