On a day the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022, is scheduled to be tabled in Lok Sabha, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday urged the Union government not to introduce the bill in haste, as the legislation, he claimed, is ‘extremely dangerous’.
“The Electricity (Amendment) Bill will be tabled in Lok Sabha today. This law is very dangerous. It would not resolve, but, instead, only lead to further deterioration of electricity-related problems. People’s troubles will increase. Only a few companies will benefit from the bill. I appeal to the Centre to not bring this legislation in haste,” Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor’s appeal came a day before as many as 27 lakh power employees are scheduled to hold nationwide protests against the bill, through which, they allege, the Union government wants to give an opportunity to private firm to make profit by using the network of public sector electricity distribution companies.
However, according to the central government, the Electricity Bill – which was passed by the Union cabinet on August 3 – would bring ‘radical changes’ in the power distribution sector by enabling competition, strengthening payment security, and giving more powers to regulatory commissions.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh was among a host of opposition parliamentarians who attended a convention of the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) on August 2. It was during this convention that the body passed a resolution announcing a countrywide agitation against the legislation on August 9, which is also the eightieth anniversary of the Quit India movement.