- By Aditya Jha
- Sat, 15 Feb 2025 04:03 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Uttarakhand News: Amid several protests against installment of smart electricity meters, the Uttarakhand government on Saturday announced that the smart meters will be installed at the houses of all the state cabinet ministers and bureaucrats. The advisory stated that the meters will be installed at the official and the private houses as well.
The advisory from the state government came amid the ongoing protests in several districts of the state. The opposition party Congress has accused the ruling BJP of misleading the people on the issue of electricity meters. Several Congress leaders joined the people in their protest against the installment of the smart meters on Friday.
Government Is Misleading People- Congress
In a statement, Congress stated that ahead of the civic body elections, the BJP leaders had promised that no electricity meters will be installed. The major opposition party stated that Rudrapur MLA Shiv Arora and Mayor candidate Vikas Sharma had assured that the locals will not be troubled by installing smart meters. Congress claimed that even Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami had assured of the same; however, the saffron party leaders have changed their stance on the issue.
ALSO READ: Trump’s Immigration Crackdown: Mass Deportations To Impact Millions, Burden US Economy | Key Numbers
The Congress is claiming that the same leaders are now not fully denying the chances of smart meters being installed. While they announced that all the steps will be in the interest of people, adding that the meters will be installed in the houses of public representatives first.
Major Protest In Haridwar
The locals staged a protest against the employees of the electricity department after they tried to install the smart meters in their houses. While the employees did not stop after the requests from the villagers in Dharmpur village of Haridwar, Ranipur MLA Adesh Chauhan asked the employees to not install the meters in the village.
Similar protests have been reported in Uttar Pradesh too where the locals opposed the installment of the smart meters, adding that the reading of smart meters is not accurate.