AAP government goes all out to woo anti-Sikh riot victims

NEW DELHI: With Delhi and Punjab municipal elections on the anvil, the AAP government is going all out to consolidate the Sikh community that has so far been considered a BJP votebank. To woo the anti-Sikh riot victims, the Delhi government on Thursday extended the scope of the power amnesty scheme to a few of their colonies.

The Delhi government on Thursday also extended the Bijli Bill Vivad Samadhan scheme for the second time by another two months. The scheme will now end on December 31. Initially , the scheme had been valid till September 30, but it had been extended to October 31.

"The amnesty scheme was earlier confined to JJ clusters and unauthorised colonies. It is now being extended to cover victims of the anti-Sikh riots belonging to economically weaker sections of the society who have no source of regular income.Many of them could not pay their electricity bills and some of them are even dispu ed," said officials.

The government said hat they had received a num ber of representations sta ing that a majority of famili es of 1984 riots stayed in EWS pockets and could not pay the r power bills. “The scheme will now be extended to residential colo nies in B & C Block of Tilak Vihar, Shivaji Enclave Rag hubir Nagar, Widow Colony Shaheed Bhagat Singh Colo ny) and Lal Quarter Ward Number 103,“ said the go vernment in a release.

For outstanding power bills, a lump sum of Rs 250 per month will be charged from the date of payment of the last bill till July, 2015. "In cases where power has been disconnected, the amount may be charged on a similar basis from the date of last payment till date of disconnection. In all such cases, no late payment will be charged and the final amount will be recovered from the consumer in six monthly installments," the release added.

Power secretary Sukesh Jain said that the scheme was extended for the second time "in larger public interest and no settlement would be done after December 31." The power department added that about 43,000 cases have been settled so far.

To win over Sikhs to AAP's side, the Delhi government had recently distributed compensation cheques on the 31st anniversary of the anti-Sikh riots to the kin of victims. The government had claimed that the compensation was paid from its own kitty .