Fascist Govt's flawed policies responsible for plight of power sector

Anindya Islam Amit, the State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, has blamed the ousted Awami League government for the current load shedding across various parts of the country and the miserable state of the power sector. He said today's plight in the power sector is due to the flawed policies taken by the fascist (AL) government.

He made this allegation during a briefing organized at the Bidyut Bhaban in Dhaka today, Monday.

The State Minister said, "We want to achieve self-reliance in the power and energy sector. For this reason, the current government has taken various plans. We hope to provide uninterrupted power supply to the public."

Citing that importance is being given to eco-friendly renewable energy, Amit said that there is a plan to generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity from this sector.

Explaining the flawed policies of the previous government, the Junior Minister said that over electricity production capacity has now become a huge burden. Even without producing electricity, a massive amount of capacity payment has to be made for idle power plants.

It was stated in the briefing that there are mainly two reasons behind the excessive electricity bills of customers in the month of June. One is the increased tariff effective from June, and the other is the increased consumption by customers. Additionally, there might be some clerical and technical errors. Those matters are being investigated. Stern action will be taken if intentional overbilling is proven.

However, customers will receive most of the increased bills of June in July. No explanation was given regarding this matter. Furthermore, one of the main reasons behind the excessive electricity bills is the revenue target set by distribution companies, especially the Rural Electrification Board, to reduce system loss and increase revenue. When asked about this, he tactfully avoided the question.

Power Secretary Mirana Mahrukh, PDB Chairman Engineer Rezaul Karim, and the heads of distribution companies were present at the briefing.