Gambegre MLA Saleng A Sangma complained in the Assembly today that there are villages in his constituency that are charged for electricity despite never having had a power connection.
“Certain villages in my constituency have no power [connection] at all, forget a meter, but they yet get the [power] bills,” the NCP legislator said during Question Hour.
Two such villages are Badupara and Mibonpara, he said, adding that he had raised the same issue in the last session of the Assembly. Saleng Sangma said that there are no electricity poles or wires in the villages, so it could not be a case of villages who had had their power cut off (for non-payment of bills, for example), as Power Minister James Sangma suggested.
Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh then chipped in, joking that the villages would not be billed for electricity when they are eventually connected to the grid.
Whether the Power Minister appreciated the joke or not, he said that it was a serious matter and he would have the department investigate.
