GUWAHATI: In a significant move, all public servants in the state of Assam will have to pay for their own electricity bill starting from July onwards, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Sunday.
CM Sarma informed that he and the Chief Secretary will start paying for their own electricity consumption from July 1 so as to lead by example.
"We are ending the VIP culture rule of paying electricity bills for government officials using taxpayer money. Myself and the Chief Secretary will set an example and start paying our power bills from July 1 onwards. Beginning in July 2024, all public servants will have to pay for their electricity consumption,"the Assam CM said in a video message on X.
"We usually find that the electricity bills of the residences of our ministers and senior government officers or the residences of the secretariat were being paid by the government for a long time. This is not a new system as this has been going on for 75 years," the Assam CM said in his address.
"Until now, the state government was paying the electricity bills used in everyone's house from the budget," he said.
"That will change as the chief ministers, ministers, senior officers will have to pay for their own electricity bills with effect from July 1 in order to prevent the increase of electricity charges in lieu of the losses that the electricity board incurs due to our non-payment," CM Sarma added during an event.
Meanwhile, the Janata Bhawan Solar Project, a 2.5-Megawatt power generation capacity grid-connected rooftop and ground-mounted solar PV system, was unveiled by the Assam CM at a ceremony held at the state Secretariat Complex in Guwahati.
The Chief Minister urged every government office to switch to solar power in a gradual and phased manner. In the initial phase, Sarma called upon medical colleges and universities to make a transition to solar energy.
"We have undertaken an initiative to implement auto-disconnection of electricity at all govt offices barring CM Secretary, home and finance departments at 8 pm so that we can save electricity. This measure is already in place at 8,000 government offices, schools, across the state," CM Sarma said.
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