Oppose Unprecedented Electricity Tariff Hike In Andhra

Date: 
Tuesday, May 30, 2000

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

The unprecedented increase in the electricity rates prescribed by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission is a savage attack on the people of Andhra Pradesh. The Commission has approved increase in the electricity tariffs ranging from 75 to 122 per cent for the domestic sector, middle class consumers and agriculture. The Commission has solicitously spared the industrial sector and imposed heavy burdens on the people, in keeping with the philosophy of liberalisation. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has reacted saying that such increases are inevitable to carry forward power sector reforms.

Such a steep increase in electricity rates in Andhra Pradesh are a pointer to what is going to happen in the rest of the country, if privatisation of the electricity boards under the direction of the World Bank, takes place.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) condemns the electricity tariff hike in Andhra Pradesh and demands that they be rescinded. It extends its full support to the struggle being launched by the state unit of the CPI(M) and other forces against this callous measure.