A NEWS report in The New Nation on Thursday said that the government has planned to shrink the ceiling of the lowest electricity slab for household consumers from 50 units to 30 and raise per unit cost of electricity to Tk 4.30 from existing Tk 4.20 which are eligible to the extreme poor. The proposal has also asked to reduce subsidy eligibility of the poor from using two fans and three lights as of now to one fan and two lights in their homes to eventually drop huge number of people out of the lowest subsidy cover. The proposals have come at a time when the country has over 24 percent of its population still under extreme poverty line. The report said although power distribution in major cities has showed some improvement, rural electricity supply is in the sham. But as it appears the government is only busy how more revenue can be amassed without ensuring electricity supply to rural homes regularly at low cost.As we see, private power producers, closer to the government are supplying the bulk of the electricity to the government at exorbitantly high rates developing a system of cronyism and the government is handing out huge power bills to them. This is why the power sector is overloaded with subsidies and the government is at work to pass the burden on the common people. But Ministers, MPs, senior government officials and such state beneficiaries are using public utilities such as electricity free of cost at their homes and offices and question may be legitimately raised why the poor must bear the load of high electricity price and that used by the rich and powerful. The government foots their bills while squeezing the poor to bear the load. We must say only a government, which is not accountable to the people and enjoying unlimited power to grease the appetite of the powerful section of the society can do it. We must say, this is quite unjust; it can’t be acceptable. The government should rather implement immediate reforms in the power sector to reduce corruption, scrap high cost power plant contracts and such other swindling of public money to reduce state losses. It is not only hurting the common people but also escalating cost of business and eroding exports competitiveness abroad. Recent news reports said the poor in the Indian capital would pay 50 percent of their electricity bills and enjoy free water supply up to certain limit while the newly elected government will charge the rich to make good the losses. Another news report said the Singapore government has decided to raise tax ceiling on the rich to use the money to help the poor and retired people. In Bangladesh the wheels are running backward. We must ask the government to learn from the neighbours.
