NEW DELHI: In another piece of bad news for the Delhi Government that is already entangled in the water and power sectors controversy, the United Residents' Joint Association (URJA) on Saturday passed a resolution strongly opposing any further installation of new electronic power meters.

It also decided to set up an independent citizens' inquiry committee to probe the controversial privatisation of the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board.

The inquiry will also look into who all were the beneficiaries of this multi-crore power privatisation scam that allegedly violated all rules and regulations and benefited only the private power companies, officials and politicians. At the convention of the Delhi Residents' Welfare Associations (RWAs) here they vehemently opposed the "sponsored view'' being promoted by the Government about electronic metres and expressed lack of confidence in the installation of new meters.

The agitated RWA members strongly denounced attempts being made by the Delhi Government to bulldoze public opinion by arranging "sham testing'' of meters without having any agreement on the procedures.

"Initially we had meter-terrorism, a fact conceded even by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit. Now SDMs have been let loose on people at large leading to a new phenomenon called meter-testing terrorism," said Arvind Mehta of the Double Storey RWA based in Rajendra Nagar. "We refuse to accept the testing methods or the clean chit the Delhi Government has been giving to the power distribution companies on the issue," he added.

All those present on the occasion also passed a resolution to disallow any installation of electronic meters and demanded a fair hearing to those whose meters had been replaced forcibly and were receiving inflated bills.

The gathering also castigated the Delhi Government for refusing to order an inquiry into the DVB privatisation deal.

"This is perhaps the only instance after Independence that a case has been commented upon adversely by three independent commissions or authorities and we still do not see any inquiry ordered. We demand an immediate enquiry into the DVB privatisation deal and an investigation into the beneficiaries of this deal including government officials and politicians,'' remarked URJA convenor Promod Chawla.

Political pressure

URJA also authorised its parent organisation, People's Action, to create a "Citizens' Inquiry Committee'' to monitor investigations into DVB privatisation deal.

This Committee will be a watchdog group to ensure that the inquiry is initiated and carried out without being subjected to political pressure, stated Anant Trivedi of the Ishwar Nagar RWA. The Committee will be constituted this coming week and with prominent citizens, NGO groups and RWAs as members.

Honest consumers

The meeting also passed a resolution demanding repeal of the current power tariff rates that have been inflated to subsidise the theft of power in Delhi.

"This theft is illegal and it is the duty of the Government to stop it. However, extracting this deficit of theft from honest consumers is also illegal and we demand an immediate reduction of tariffs to the levels before privatisation," said Raj Kishore Dimri of the Mayur Vihar RWA.

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