As per last year's Electricity Act, the state has begun installing the meters that will help check huge shortfalls due to transmission losses and theft.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has embarked on a massive drive to install more than seven lakh electricity meters in cities, towns and villages of the state over the next three years to check huge losses due to transmission losses and theft.
"The government would complete cent per cent metering of the electricity supply by end-2013 to ensure judicious consumption of electricity and to check power theft effectively," State Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather said yesterday.
Seven lakh electronic meters will be installed during the period in all towns and villages of the country, which is mandatory as per the J&K Electricity Act, 2010, Rather said.
"The government will provide every possible logistic support to the Power Development Department (PDD) in this regard," He added.
The metering drive was started in 2003 during the government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, but it was limited to cities and towns.
However, after the passing of the Electricity Act last year, the government has launched the drive afresh and is even replacing the previously installed meters, which were malfunctioning in the winters.
Rather said effective metering was necessary for providing better and assured power supply to the consumers.
He asked the PDD to convince people that the metering system is people-friendly and in the larger interest of the public.
"A sustained and vigorous awareness campaign needs to be launched through the print and electronic media about the repercussions of power theft," he siad. "The government supplies about 850 MW of power to the consumers against the 300-MW load agreement, which was against the interests of the state and unconvincing before the Planning Commission of India."
Rather asked the department to complete computerisation of the billing system positively by end-April to check pilferage of revenue and also for the overall convenience of the consumers by minimising the direct interface between consumers and the PDD's field functionaries.
He said metering and computerisation of the billing system will be important milestones for bringing about reform in the power sector.
The minister urged the PDD to safeguard the revenue interests of the government.
"The state's overall development is subservient to better revenue generation. Extra efforts of the officers and engineers of the PDD are needed to complete the revenue realisation target of Rs 592 crore this fiscal," he said.
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