Assam does a Kejriwal before elections, approves free electricity; Mini Secretariat in Barak to start with 6 departments

Under Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s leadership, the state’s Cabinet of Ministers approved some key policies and schemes. With the elections knocking at the doors, the cabinet meeting yesterday was very important.

In the meeting, it was decided that the Mini Secretariat in Silchar will start operations with six departments. The construction work of the secretariat building in Srikona is underway and it will take some time to complete. However, as per CM Sonowal’s suggestion, the Mini Secretariat in Barak Valley will start operating from a rented apartment in Silchar.

The six departments it will start operating with are Personnel, Revenue, and Disaster Management, General Administration, Agriculture, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary.

The cabinet has also decided to approve Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s proposal to provide free electricity to the families in Assam. In a move that mirrors Arvind Kejriwal’s in Delhi, the Assam Government has decided to provide free electricity to the households in Assam.

As briefed to the press, Assam Government will provide 30 units of free electricity to all the households for a period of three months starting January 2021 to March 2021. The scheme to provide free electricity was tabled by Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while presenting the 2020 budget. He had said that while the affluent can afford electricity for their luxury, entertainment, and comfort, there are “less fortunate ones” for who it creates a hole in the pocket.

His proposal was to provide free electricity to families that consume below 30 units of electricity every month. He had said, “Currently, 14 lakh families consume electricity up to 30 units monthly and this initiative will immediately benefit families belonging to the bottom of the pyramid including tea garden workers, families living below poverty line and our SC-ST population. This subsidy shall cost the state government, Rs 250 crore annually but it will save a substantial amount for every family which they can now use for their children’s education.”

Sarma, as quoted by the Times Of India, added, “By limiting the scheme to 30 units, we are not just covering the basic electricity needs of families, but are also incentivising them to avoid wastage and consume energy sustainably,” he said.

For the general public, to significantly mitigate the consequences of electricity tariff revision, Sarma proposed Rs 300 crore to Assam Power Distribution Company Limited for providing tariff relief to the general public.