Haryana Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday alleged that the state government's decision to grant a parallel electricity distribution licence to Eleven Power Private Limited for Gurugram and Nuh districts amounts to privatisation of the power sector. The former chief minister demanded the immediate withdrawal of the decision, claiming it would be detrimental to public interest.
Hooda's allegations against the BJP government
Speaking to media, Hooda said the proposal would harm consumers and the Congress party would oppose it strongly. He referred to discussions with employee organisations and alleged that the government is planning to separate agricultural consumers under a separate agri discom from August 15. This move, he claimed, is intended to benefit the private company by keeping subsidised farm consumers outside its distribution network.
Hooda asserted that nearly one-third of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam's (DHBVN) total revenue comes from Gurugram. Handing over this area to a private company would cause a significant revenue loss for the state utility, he added.
Impact on consumers and employees
The Congress leader further alleged that private companies would focus on supplying electricity to profitable industrial, commercial and urban areas while avoiding rural domestic consumers, farmers and economically weaker sections. This, he warned, could leave DHBVN with low-revenue areas and adversely affect power supply to a large section of consumers.
Hooda also claimed that electricity distribution for a private company would be driven by profit, which could compromise service quality and put the jobs of power employees and engineers at risk due to possible retrenchment. He reiterated that the Congress would oppose any move towards privatisation of the power sector in Haryana.
