Meter readers not collecting details of Gruha Jyothi beneficiaries

In many colonies in the Secunderabad area, meter readers are just generating power bills and leaving the place without even informing the consumers.

Hyderabad: The details of people eligible for the Gruha Jyothi scheme, under which upto 200 units of power will be provided for free to every household in the State, was supposed to be collected by meter readers of State-run power utilities during their visit to generate electricity bills from households.

However, in most places in Greater Hyderabad, the power staff are asking beneficiaries to visit their offices to submit the details.

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In many colonies in the Secunderabad area, meter readers are just generating power bills and leaving the place without even informing the consumers. In apartments, the meter readers are scanning meters installed at the cellar and handing over the bills to the security.

When a few people requested the meter readers to collect their details for the scheme, they reportedly refused to do so and asked them to file the details with the department’s offices.

Following the refusal of the meter readers to collect details, consumers are now forced to visit power utility offices and submit their details. This has resulted in a large number of people visiting the nearest power offices to submit details.

When the government asked the meter readers to collect details of the beneficiaries, their union had demanded that the Discom managements provide incentives for collecting beneficiary data and the managements reportedly agreed to it. However, now it has come to light that in many areas in the city, meter readers are not collecting details.

As many as 34 lakh households in the State are eligible for the scheme. However, the government has issued guidelines that each household needs to follow to benefit from the scheme. Further, it is also being reported that only those who have their white ration cards linked with an Aadhaar number will be able to avail of the scheme.The Gruha Jyothi scheme applies to households, including tenants, with a single meter only. Consumers who have electricity bill arrears or who haven’t paid their electricity bill for the past two months will not be eligible for the scheme.

Furthermore, the annual electricity consumption of the household should not be more than 2,181 units in the year 2022-2023. During the Praja Palana programme about 81.54 lakh families applied for Gruha Jyothi scheme and the number is likely to touch 90 lakh. The State government is reportedly planning to launch the Gruha Jyothi scheme from March 1 and before that, it has to identify the beneficiaries.