1984 anti-Sikh riots: Govt waives power bills of victims’ families

In a major relief to over 2,000 families of 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims, the Delhi government has decided to waive off the pending electricity bills of the families living in various parts of the Capital. The decision taken in the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening will also help the families to get the rebate scheme of 50 per cent subsidy on power consumption over 400 units per month.

There are 2,274 families living in Delhi in areas like Raghuvir Nagar, Tilak Vihar, Janakpur, Sangam Vihar, Kabul Nagar, Sarai Kale Khan etc. The Centre also had in 2014 raised the compensation for these affected families to Rs 5 lakh.

“The decision was approved by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Cabinet. All these families will no longer have to pay their pending electricity bills,” said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. The decision will cost the exchequer around Rs 13 crore.

Apart from this, families from now onwards, like other residents, will get a 50 per cent power subsidy over 400 units consumption. As per the scheme, all consumers whose monthly power consumption do not exceed 400 units get 50 per cent subsidy in tariff and the scheme benefits around 36 lakh or 90 per cent of the consumers in the national capital.

The move has brought smiles to families who have been struggling hard as most of them are surviving without any income. Residents who were suddenly slapped with bills of around Rs 10,000-20,000 have been fighting to get them waived off for quite a long time. The move has brought smiles to their faces.

“This is a great move by the government. My mother who is residing in Tilak Vihar was asked to pay Rs 20,000 for the past years. How can one suddenly pay such huge amount of money suddenly? We are extremely happy that the government has finally taken a stand on this decision,” said Nirpreet Kaun, whose father died in 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Her mother and brother are residing in Tilak Vihar with many other families. 

According to officials, a large number of residents from the rehabilitation colonies had requested the Delhi Chief Minister to waive off pending power bills as these families have no source of income.

“Most of the families in these colonies do not have any source of income and which is why they fail to pay their power bills. All the previous bills worth Rs 13 crore have been waived off. These families have submitted many representations to the CM and he was keen in taking a decision which would help these people,” said a senior Delhi government official.

Analysis

The decision will benefit more than 2,000 families living in rehabilitation colonies in Delhi.
A great political move as it will help the government in getting support from these families.