New schemes for Maharashtra farmers, no relief from inflated power bills for residents

In a bid to recover arrears from farmers for electricity bills of agricultural pumps amounting to ₹41,000 crore, the Maharashtra government declared an amnesty scheme on Thursday. It has decided to waive off interest, penalty and rebate on payment of pending power bills. It has also declared a new policy under which a target of providing two lakh new connections in two years and at least eight-hour power supply during the day to all farmers in the next three years has been set. The government has decided to spend around ₹1,500 crore annually till 2024 to implement the policy.

However, the state is yet to clear a proposal for providing relief from inflated power bills to residential consumers. In August, it had planned to bear the financial burden of the surplus amount from the inflated bills for three months of the lockdown period — April, May and June, but the scheme is yet to get an approval that will cost around ₹1,100 crore to the state exchequer.

State energy minister Nitin Raut on Tuesday said that the government cannot provide any relief to consumers over-inflated bills as the state has a huge financial burden and it is not getting any aid from the Central government. This has led to sharp reactions, with opposition parties declaring to start agitations from Monday.