Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has from time to time pitched that he wants to improve the power situation in the state. (PTI image)

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has from time to time pitched that he wants to improve the power situation in the state. With an aim to check theft of electricity, state Power Minister Shrikant Sharma has directed the setting up of special ‘police stations’ which will look after the issue, according to an Indian Express report. The report says that similar police stations were set up by the Rajasthan government in 2006.

During a media interaction, State Power Minister Shrikant Sharma informed that electricity is being provided without any cuts from 7 PM to 5 AM across the state. “During the ongoing summer season, we want to ensure smooth power supply especially at nights in the residential areas between 7 PM to 5 AM, without any cuts,” Sharma said. He also claimed that the Yogi Adityanath government is already providing 24-hour power supply to the industry and also to all hospitals in the state. “It has also been ensured to provide uninterrupted supply in schools and colleges,” Sharma said, as per PTI report.

Watch this video

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Government was reportedly mulling a strict law to deal with power theft issue. Notably, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said that there will be no discrimination in the supply of electricity in his regime, as per a PTI report. The UP CM had said in Lucknow that it was his government’s aim to provide power to the houses of all the poor by 2018. CM Adityanath also said that the state government is determined to provide 24-hour power supply in the urban areas and 18 hours of electricity in villages.

Sharma had earlier said that nobody, be it a government official or a VIP, will be spared if found guilty of power theft after June 15 and will attract a five years jail term. If any person from the industrial or commercial background is found guilty, strict action will be taken against him, Sharma said, adding even VIPs will not be spared under this law. The minister further elaborated on the nuisance of power theft, saying the act of tapping electricity by connecting cable wires for personal use is just a common complaint. The more serious form of theft includes running an industrial unit or enterprise while using a domestic connection, he said, according to PTI report.

Sharma said the electrification process under this regime will be a fair process and no particular district will be favoured, like it was in the previous regime. He also said that the urban consumers can now deposit 25 per cent of their arrears of power bills, a relief that was given to only rural consumers earlier. The outstanding amount could be deposited in four instalments, he had said. Small industries will also benefit from this scheme, the report said.