LG cancelled order on discom penalty: Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung had cancelled the AAP government’s order of making discoms pay compensation to consumers for unscheduled power cuts.

Kejriwal made this claim at a gathering in Najafgarh in northwest Delhi.

“Fifteen days ago, the LG called the file pertaining to this matter and cancelled this order. (Narendra) Modi is hand-in-glove with power companies,” Kejriwal said.


Sources in the power department, however, said that they had received no official word from the LG’s office in this regard.

DERC had earlier suggested amendments to Delhi Electricity Supply Code and Performance Standards Regulations in which the maximum time limit and rates for outages caused by different reasons has been mentioned. The compensation amount ranges from Rs 50 to Rs 100 for each day of outage.

The CM also accused the Centre of not allowing development works in Delhi and harassing the state government. He added that when deputy CM Manish Sisodia went to meet the lieutenant governor recently, he “fell at his feet to request that some officials are not transferred till March 31”, but LG Najeeb Jung did not budge from his stand.

“We promised you 1,000 mohalla clinics by the end of this year, but the LG is going to transfer the PWD officials building them next month itself,” Kejriwal said.

The CM’s visit was not without protests as two groups held up black flags while he spoke.

One was a group of women protesting the non-release of Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board results. Kejriwal has called them to his house on Wednesday to sort out the matter. The other group was protesting the lack of a degree college for boys.

“Delhi elected seven BJP MPs because you wanted Modiji to run the country, but in the assembly elections you gave 67 seats to us as you wanted Delhi government to be run by AAP. In the past one-and-a-half years, Modiji has made life very difficult for us. They are taking revenge from Delhiites for giving them only three seats, but I am warning them that next time they will not even get three seats,” the CM said.

He also threatened that if the minimum wages Bill was not cleared by the Centre, all of Delhi “would gherao the PM and the LG”.