JAMMU, MARCH 26: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, in a high level meeting, impressed upon the officers of the Power Development Department (PDD) to run large scale campaign to make people aware about the judicious use of electric appliances.Dr Mehta enjoined upon them to make the masses fully acquainted about the consumption of electricity by different electric appliances like ACs, Water Heaters, Room Heaters and others so that they become aware about costs and use these gadgets judiciously. He asked them to use the power of our youth in changing the attitude of people by making them champions of change in the society.The Chief Secretary stated that losses suffered on power purchases exceed more than Rs 3500 Crore annually with previous liabilities piling up by each passing year. He reiterated that these resources belong to our people and should optimally be utilized in creation of jobs for youth or other welfare measures for the people of J&K. He observed that people should be sensitized about the same through massive outreach campaign and this gap in power purchase and revenue realization should be minimized for the general good of masses particularly the educated youth of the UT.He further added that the overall AT&C losses should be brought down to less than 20% in the UT. He emphasised on having a proper mechanism to redress the grievances related to billing of consumers. He told them to fix Electric Division wise targets for demand side management. He emphasized on enhanced enforcement for reduction of distribution losses and metering of power connections.
