Telangana govt takes U-turn on Gruha Jyothi scheme; asks applicants to clear arrears

The beneficiaries claim that several eligible people were left out in the first phase of the Gruha Jyothi scheme and the government has asked them to re-apply. However, since then a large number of people are not receiving zero bills

Hyderabad: People who applied for the Gruha Jyothi scheme, the flagship scheme of the Congress government with an aim to provide free electricity up to 200 units to domestic consumers, are furious over power officials demanding to pay arrears of the last five months.

The power utilities authorities claimed that the Gruha Jyothi scheme would come into force only when zero bills are generated and that the people who had applied for the scheme and had not paid bills since March, when the scheme was launched, and therefore the citizens had to pay the arrears.

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Despite fulfilling all conditions, many eligible individuals are still facing difficulties in waving their electricity bills. During the budget session, the government had presented data indicating that 42.25 lakh people were receiving free electricity.

The beneficiaries claim that several eligible people were left out in the first phase of the Gruha Jyothi scheme and the government has asked them to re-apply. However, since then a large number of people are not receiving zero bills.

In March, the government had announced that all the eligible beneficiaries of the scheme need not pay the bills till they get zero bills. However, the people were surprised when they were asked to pay the pending bills by the power officials. The beneficiaries argue that as Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy himself had asked the beneficiaries not to pay bills, they stopped paying bills and now suddenly power utilities are demanding them to clear all the pending bills.

Even the power utilities have assured that all those who applied through Praja Palana would receive the benefits of the scheme starting June, following the lifting of the Model Code of Conduct, but a large number of people who applied in March did not receive zero bills.

Take the case of Jagtial district. It is estimated that over 50,000 people who have applied for Gruha Jyothi scheme would now have to clear their arrears as they have not been paying the bills since February. A woman in the district claimed that though she had applied for the scheme in March along with all the essential documents, she was not included in the scheme and that she was receiving bills every month.

Similar reports are coming from other districts, where people have received pending bills. In the districts of Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal, a total of 19.8 lakh applications have been submitted under the Gruha Jyoti scheme as part of the Praja Palana programme.

However, around 2.50 lakh eligible applicants are still receiving electricity bills. Officials have attributed this issue to incomplete data entry, which is preventing eligible consumers from receiving the promised zero bills.

In Nizamabad and Warangal district, the people who have applied for Gruha Jyothi scheme and have not been paying monthly bills, have been asked to clear the arrears. The power utilities are even reportedly threatening that if the pending bills were not cleared their power connection would be disconnected.

Former minister and senior BRS leader T Harish Rao has accused the Congress government of not fulfilling their promise to provide free power to all the eligible persons. He criticized that the scheme was implemented as a formality and that several beneficiaries were not getting the benefits of the scheme.

“Government is claiming that it was giving 200 units of free power, but in reality it was collecting bills from the poor. Collecting pending bills from the poor under the pretense that zero bills have not been generated is evil. One thing before the election, another after coming to power. Are the six guarantees mentioned in the manifesto fully implementing even one of the 13 guarantees??” Harish Rao posted on his X account.