Chandigarh, Aug 30 (IANS) Time and again rapping his party's government in Punjab on the knuckles for its failure to provide free power up to 300 units to the domestic consumers, state Congress President Navjot Sidhu on Monday demanded to extend the one-day Assembly session to terminate the power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed with private companies.
"Punjab government must immediately issue directions to PSERC (Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission) in public interest to revise tariff being paid to private power plants making the faulty PPAs null and void. Further calling a five-seven day Vidhan Sabha Session to bring a new legislation for termination of faulty PPAs," Sidhu tweeted.
"This will help Punjab government give 300 units of free power to all domestic consumers, including general category, decrease domestic tariff to Rs 3 per unit and Rs 5 per unit for industry, along with redressal of all outstanding bills, waiving-off the unjustifiable and exorbitant bills," he added.
The government has decided to call a special session of the Vidhan Sabha for one day on September 3 to commemorate the historic 400th Prakash Purb of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
In his earlier tweets, Sidhu had blamed the PPAs that the previous government had signed with three private thermal power plants and said till 2020 Punjab had paid Rs 5,400 crore due to faulty clauses in these agreements. It is expected to pay Rs 65,000 crore of people's money just as fixed charges.
Favouring the need to set aside the PPAs, Sidhu had said the state can purchase power from the national grid at much cheaper rates. "But these Badal-signed PPAs are acting against Punjab's public interest. Punjab may not be able to re-negotiate these PPAs due to them having legal protection from honourable courts, but there is a way forward," he had said.
The Vigilance Bureau arrested Saini, who retired in June 2018, for cheating, forgery and other offences under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act on Wednesday.
To be headed by the Chief Minister, the group will have Local Government Minister Brahm Mohindra, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Social Security Minister Aruna Chaudhary as members, along with Sidhu, the four party working presidents -- Kuljit Singh Nagra, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Sangat Singh Gilzian and Pawan Goel, besides Pargat Singh.
After paying floral tributes to the former Prime Minister at Central Hall of Parliament, Defence Minister Singh tweeted, "Paid tributes to former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi ji on his birth anniversary at Parliament House today."
Microsoft and MAQ Software will set up their units in Noida whereas PepsiCo has started construction of its factory in Mathura, said an Industrial Department official.
Stressing that Rajiv Gandhi was a close friend, Amarinder Singh recalled that he always used ask when the day will come when people will have their own houses to live and India would be free from poverty. He, therefore, thought it apt to launch this scheme on the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, said the Chief Minister, adding that the Congress had fighting for the people for the last 130 years.
Sisodia, who is also the nodal minister for Covid management in the national capital, stated that no one can deny that Delhi grappled with an oxygen shortage during the peak of the second wave of the Covid pandemic (April-May) and several people died due to oxygen shortage.
