Lucknow, April 21
In a significant move to combat electricity theft, the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh has taken steps to identify those using electricity without a connection, ensuring every household in the state has a proper supply of electricity.
It is worth noting that Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. has a total of 3.27 crore electricity consumers throughout its five distribution corporations. The total number of connections for domestic use is 2.88 crore. Compared to the total number of households in Uttar Pradesh, the total number of domestic electricity connections is lower. As a result, the government has taken this decision.
Also, all families currently consuming electricity but have not taken a connection will be issued a connection in accordance with the guidelines.
Those who use electricity without connection will be identified
To make this campaign successful, UPPCL Chairman M Devraj has issued an order to identify and mark all the families left out of having electricity connections. Various sources such as the family register in the Gram Panchayat, details of premises collecting house tax/water tax in urban areas, and details of the ration card can be useful in identifying households without valid electricity connections.
Help will be taken from students, self-help groups and Vidyut Sakhis
Based on the information received, the government has also given instructions to conduct a detailed survey.
At the district level, a meeting of the principals is held under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate to include students from Inter College, ITI, Polytechnic, and Higher Education Institutes located in the district for the survey and allotting the area to groups of students, identifying the interested students. With this, a survey of the area will be done. Information will be gathered from then in the prescribed format.
Apart from this, many self-help groups and Vidyut Sakhi work in rural areas through the State Livelihood Mission. Self-help groups / Vidyut Sakhis will be encouraged to conduct the stated survey in their area by organizing a meeting at the district level under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate. In addition, employees of billing agencies will also participate in it. The contract with the agency also has this provision under the scope of work, which states that the agency will search and locate non-consumers using electricity.
Students and self-help groups / Vidyut Sakhis will be provided Rs 100 as an incentive for every new connection after the survey and this payment will be made weekly by the concerned executive engineer to the concerned. Apart from the cash amount, certificates/citations will also be given by the Executive Engineer to the individuals/groups who have done good work. No separate incentive will be paid to the personnel of the billing agency for doing the survey work.
Application will be done online only
According to the order, all the connections will be issued only by installing meters, and it will be the responsibility of the Junior Engineer to get such connections registered by the end of the week. All applications will be submitted online. If the applicant has difficulty applying online, it will be resolved by the Junior Engineer/Assistant Engineer/Executive Engineer. Applicants against whom arrears are pending in theft cases, or FIR has been registered in the past will be given connection after obtaining a declaration on plain paper.
