HUGE POWER OUTSTANDING
Where on one hand the centre Government is working hard for developing all necessary facilities and infrastructure for ensuring provision of all basic amenities of life to every citizen in J&K even residing in rural or far-flung belts and adequate funding is being ensured in this regard, on the other hand the UT administration is also leaving no stone unturned in implementation of all the directives without any laxity. But it is really a matter of concern that despite various out of the box initiatives taken by the Government and revolutionary changes made in every sector, people in J&K are still facing challenges like power and water shortage. Time and again, it has been repeatedly assured that the Union Territory will be made self-reliant in respect of the power sector so that the citizens can enjoy 24X7 power supply without any problem or disruption. There is no doubt that the UT administration is working hard for transforming its words to reality as work on numerous power infrastructure projects are going on in full pace and several hydroelectric projects are also near completion. The administration has also adopted a stern approach towards all those indulged in power thefts and trying to regularize all illegal connections, which are the major reason for the increased T&C losses being faced by the UT. Despite all these significant developments, it seems that the problems of the administration are not going to end soon and it has to take some more proactive efforts for tackling the situation properly and in a more effective manner. As per the reports, the outstanding dues of Power Distributions Companies (Discoms) of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir towards Power Generations Companies (Gencos) have increased to an amount of Rs 9642.15 crore ending June 2020. Whereon on one hand the overall outstanding dues of Discoms of the country have enhanced to Rs 1,32,432 crore, a significant amount is due on J&K. For meeting the situation, the administration needs to boost up its revenue drive as there are several wilful defaulters who have huge outstanding amount in respect of power tariff otherwise this huge outstanding will cause huge financial implications in the coming days.