Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has decided to file a review petition with the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) to reconsider the hike in power tariff for the financial year 2021-22.
This was informed by State Energy Minister Dibya Shankar Mishra in Odisha Assembly. Earlier today, the Opposition parties created pandemonium in the State Assembly seeking immediate rollback of the power tariff hike.
During the Question hour, Congress MLAs created ruckus over the issue in the House forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House till 11.30 am. Soon after the House reassembled for the day, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Pradipta Naik too raised the matter during the Zero Hour.
Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said that the OERC has hiked 30 paise per unit, at a time, when common people are suffering from financial issues due to the COVID-19 situation.
Terming the power tariff hike as unfortunate, Bahinipati said that Congress will hit the streets if the government fails to roll back the revised power tariff.
BJP MLA and Opposition Chief Whip Mohan Majhi also demand immediate rollback of the power tariff hike. He said that the due to Covid-19 pandemic the youths have lost employment and the power tariff hike by the state government is unfortunate at this challenging time.
On the other hand, the BJD blamed the Opposition parties for stalling the House without discussing the matter. BJD MLA Amar Satpathy said both BJP and Congress are habituated to disrupt Assembly proceedings.
Satpathy stated that the State government has nothing to do with the power tariff hike and the power regulating body- OERC decides on the issues in consultation with all stakeholders.
