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Payal/Samrala, April 3
Activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Kadian), a constituent of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, have opposed the government’s move to instal smart power meters with advanced metering infrastructure by replacing present postpaid meters for consumption of electricity by various categories of consumers of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited in the region.
A few meters installed by a team of employees deployed by the PSPCL authorities in the Payal and Samrala subdivisions were removed by activists, led by Ludhiana district president of the union Hardeep Singh Giaspura.
Terming the installation of smart meters as another step towards privatisation, the activists, led by state president Harmit Singh Kadian and convener Zeenu Dhillon, claimed that members of the teams, which had been deployed by the PSPCL, have been asked not to implement the new system till policies on tariff and concessions for special categories were implemented in the state. “As we understand that members of various teams are coming to instal smart meters in compliance with the orders of their seniors, we asked them politely to return without making any changes in the present system,” said Dhillon and Kadian, maintaining that some meters which were installed at Ghulal and Khatra villages were got removed as these were installed without the written consent of consumers.
Meanwhile, All India Kisan Sabha leaders Baldev Singh Latala and Sikandar Jartauli said the PSPCL authorities were bent upon adding insult to the injuries of small and marginal farmers by implementing privatisation step by step when they (farmers) were still trying to come out of the shock due to disturbances caused during the farmers’ agitation.
“We too have decided that we will not allow the authorities to replace old meters with smart meters. We have constituted special teams of our activists which will gherao any employee coming for installing smart meters in our localities,” Latala said.
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