Polls approaching, govt keeps focus on bijli-paani, throws transport in the mix

The free public transport for women scheme, announced in June, will cost the government Rs 290 crore to begin with.

Kejriwal, while announcing waivers in the past, has justified subsidies as spending people’s money on them. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement on Tuesday is the latest in a string of sops for Delhiites months before Assembly polls. The party, which came to power with the promise of waiving water bills and cutting power bills by half, has fallen back on these two key areas, while adding free bus and Metro rides for women in the mix.

The free public transport for women scheme, announced in June, will cost the government Rs 290 crore to begin with. The electricity bill waiver for those consuming up to 200 units of power per month, and rebates for others using more units, is expected to cost the Delhi government Rs 2,255 crore, up from the Rs 1,800 crore assigned for subsidies earlier.

Tuesday’s arrear waiver bill is, however, a little different. A limited-time scheme, it offers to waive bills people had not paid.

“The amount looks massive on paper but the truth is this money was not coming back. The amount had been accumulating but no one bothered paying it. With the waiver, we expect to get at least a part of it back,” said a senior government official.

The Delhi BJP, however, hit out at the government. “First, the DJB served hefty bills to harass people and when they refused to pay, the government is talking about waiving late fee… The Kejriwal government should first solve the problem of scarcity of water,” said Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari. The Delhi Congress also said the scheme was “an attempt by Kejriwal to buy votes before the Assembly polls”.

Kejriwal, while announcing waivers in the past, has justified subsidies as spending people’s money on them. A senior party official said, “The money we save, we give back to people. Why should any party have a problem with that?”

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