New Delhi, MTT News Desk: The Himachal Pradesh state secretariat of the Communist Party of India Marxist has asked for an immediate roll back of the exorbitant hike of 9.5% announced by the HP state Electricity regulatory Commission (hperc).

This increase will apply retrospectively since April 2011 . For the domestic consumers, the increase has been from Rs 2.20 to Rs 2.35 per unit for first 40 units consumed in a month.

Then there is a progressive increase of over 15% for consumption

beyond 40 units. This will put an additional burden of over Rs 5000 p/a to the domestic consumers.

The party has severely indicted both the BJP and the Congress  for the implementation of neo liberal policies that has landed the state in such a precarious situation.

The government must buffer the hike and bear the additional increase . Further, the state government must change the course of its policies and strengthen the state electricity board.

The CPIM has most vehemently  opposed this hike and squarely blamed the neo liberal policies for such an onslaught. The government unbundled the state electricity board and turned it into a limited company now called as HPSEB Ltd.

On the guidelines of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank structural changes  were brought in Power sector  and a regulatory commission was formed that has no interest in the cause of domestic consumers.

The state electricity board was asphyxiated from the generation sector by not allowing it to generate hydro power from a large number of rivers, which eventually were given on a platter to the private companies.

Some of them being economically the most viable ones. Quite strangely, the HPSEB Ltd generates just over 400 MW of electricity whereas the consumption during peak hours during the winters reaches 800 MW that is double the generation.

Here the electricity board  is forced to buy electricity at commercial rates.

Thirdly, the CPIM has stated, the equity share of the state in various projects like the NJPC does not pass onto the electricity board.

And in a rush to generate money, the government sells it in the market through the Power Trading Corporation, which should be sold through the HPSEB Ltd , that supplies electricity to the consumers in the state.

The party has stated, these alternatives in power generation and sale could benefit the people of the state at large but the governmetn owing to its neo liberal commitments is not prepared to do so.

The party has asserted, the people of the state have every right for cheap electricity, being the principal source in hydro generation.

The people have also faced the brunt of tapping of hydro potential in large scale displacement, issues of rehabilitation- still hanging, change in ecological conditions, land and homes loss and so on.

The CPIM has decided to organize a wider opinion in this regard and hold protest demonstrations against the present onslaught.