Srinagar: “If some people think that the system will work as per their whims and fancies, it cannot be allowed. The system will work for 1.25 crore citizens without any discrimination,” said Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir while addressing the disruption due to the agitation being staged by the power development department (PDD) employees.
Touching upon the issue of electricity disruptions in J&K, Sinha said, “I want to tell 1.25 crore citizens of Jammu and Kashmir that I understand your pain caused by the disruption in electricity supply due to strike by the power department employees. The well-being of each and every citizen is our top priority.”
“Many Generations of J&K have spent their life dreaming about getting an uninterrupted 24 hours supply of electricity and we have taken the bold initiative of reforms in the power sector to realize that dream,” Sinha added.
Blaming the previous governments who led the Jammu and Kashmir for the current state of affairs, the governor said, “Unfortunately, the people who were at the helm of affairs for many decades did nothing; they didn’t want the system to get better to bring qualitative change in people's lives.”
“Talks have been held with those who were on strike and as on date no dues/salary is pending on part of the government,” he added
“I do not want to name them, but some people have criticized that the army has been called to restore electricity. Personnel from REC, NTPC NHPC, and officers from the army engineering corps have also come. This only shows our commitment that we restored 60% electricity yesterday and by tomorrow we will achieve 100% restoration,” Sinha further said
The leader also ensured that would be no compromise on the issue of ensuring access to the basic amenities to our people.
Talking about the development made in the spectrum of electricity supply, Sinha said, “we have made efforts in that direction. Most of you know our cumulative generation capacity is around 3500MW even though the UT has the potential to generate 20000 MW. In the last 6-8 months, the MoUs we have signed with NHPC, under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister, will pave way for generating 3500MW additional power in the next 4-5 years, assuredly.”
“There is no dearth of electricity in the country but the UT’s transmission and distribution systems have a limited capacity of carrying electricity from outside. We have worked in that direction and have been able to achieve 40% of that specific capacity building plan,” Sinha added.
Sinha added, “And I want to assure you that the Hon’ble Prime Minister has always extended his support to us and in the last 14 months, we have completed 236 projects to improve transmission and distribution infrastructure and the rest will also be completed, well within timelines. It pains me that despite massive progress in other parts of the country, people of J&K were deprived of minimum requirements to live a civilized life.”
Notably, around 20 thousand PDD employees are on strike since midnight of Friday in Jammu and Kashmir, which has hit badly the distribution of electricity in the UT, mostly in Jammu province where the army engineering wing also helped to restore the electricity.
