BJP corners 'anti-people' Nitish Govt. over power tariff hike

Patna (Bihar) [India], Mar. 25 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mangal Pandey on Saturday dubbed the move of the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) to approve an average 55 percent hike in power tariff for 2017-18 as 'anti-people' and said that they would stage a protest in this regard. Expressing his disappointment with the move, Pandey said this decision is a major setback for the people of Bihar, adding this is not the way the state authorities are allowed to increase the bills and put unnecessary burden on the poor. "It's a major shock given by the Bihar Government to the people. It is not right to put unnecessary pressure on the poor people," he told ANI. The BJP leader further said that they would soon start a movement against the hike and request the state government to rollback the decision. The new tariff will be effective from April 1. The tariff hike was against an overall increase of 84 percent the two discoms had proposed. This is the first time the commission has fixed power tariff without taking into account government subsidy for the BPL, rural domestic, rural non-domestic and agriculture consumers. (ANI)