TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Claiming that State government’s move to introduce spot billing can culminate into a major scam, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday urged Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to opt for pre-paid power meters, wherein certain units of power can be bought by making advance payment.
Speaking to media persons, Party president Nilkant Halarnkar and vice president Jose Philip D’ Souza accused Power Minister Milind Naik of failing to solve power woes and tagged him as “most incapable” Minister in the Parrikar-led cabinet.
The party objected to the government move to introduce spot billing by outsourcing the job of meter reading to private company, arguing that the move was not feasible considering the fact that most of the power-meters were displayed inside the houses of consumers.
“Government will have to first shift these meters outside for reading. Consumer will not spend to shift these meters…government will have to bear the burden…hence it will again increase power tariff in the form of reimbursement from citizens…this will end in a major scam,” the party president argued and suggested that the government should drop the idea of spot billing by introducing pre-pay meters. Consumers who opt for pre-paid meters can buy certain units of power by making advance payment. Once the units are exhausted, consumers can buy recharge coupons, which will come in the form of a card. The recharge coupon can be inserted in the meter to keep it running.
The NCP also accused Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of being ‘communal’, after BJP-government failed to mourn the death of former Goa Governor Khurshed Alam Khan, who died last week, while it mourned the death of former Goa governor Kedarnath Sahani, in October last year. The party president said that the death of Khurshed, former Union Minister and father of Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshed, was condoled by Goa Governor B V Wanhcoo but there was no condolence message from Chief Minister’s office.
