Congress Protests Unannounced Power Cuts, Low Voltage, Gheraos Superintending Engineer's Office

Hundreds of Congress workers staged a protest in Pratapgarh on Wednesday against alleged undeclared power cuts, low voltage and departmental corruption, surrounding the office of the Superintending Engineer at Chilbila and submitting a memorandum with eight demands.

The protest was led by Congress district president Dr. Neeraj Tripathi. Party workers raised slogans at the office and accused the electricity department of failing to address problems being faced by people in both urban and rural areas of the district. Congress leaders warned that if the power supply system is not improved soon, they would launch a democratic movement along with the public.

Dr. Neeraj Tripathi said people in city and village areas were troubled by undeclared electricity cuts and low voltage. He alleged that in several localities, power remains out through the night, affecting studies, business and irrigation. He also claimed that as soon as the power goes off, the phones of officials and staff from linemen to JEs and XENs are switched off.

District general secretary Santosh Singh questioned the state of the electricity system and said that low voltage was damaging electrical equipment. He demanded an inquiry into the non-use of the mini power house built on the premises of the civil court and into an alleged scam linked to bill books. He alleged that no action was being taken on complaints of corruption at the departmental level.

Congress Seva Dal district general secretary Bhawani Shankar Dubey raised the issue of alleged irregularities in providing electricity connections to farmers. He alleged that farmers were being given heavy estimates for connections. He also raised complaints about the lack of necessary facilities for employees at power houses and alleged recovery of money in the name of changing transformers. He said that if the system is not improved within one week, Congress will take to the streets with the public and hold an agitation.

During the protest, Congress leaders placed eight demands, including a stop to power cuts, a solution to the low-voltage problem, provision of electricity connections to farmers, transparency in the system for changing transformers, inquiry into departmental complaints and provision of necessary facilities for employees.

The leaders said the issues had a direct impact on daily life, as power cuts and low voltage were affecting students, traders and farmers. They said that the complaints were not limited to one area and that both urban and rural consumers were facing difficulties. The memorandum submitted at the Superintending Engineer’s office focused on improving supply, fixing accountability and addressing the complaints raised by residents and party workers.

Those present on the occasion included treasurer Vedant Tiwari, city president Mohammad Ishtiyaq, Prem Shankar Dwivedi, Indranand Tiwari, Vijay Pratap Tripathi, Sanjay Pandey, Muzammil Hussain, Ravi Bhushan Sinha, Masoom Haider, Chandranath Shukla, Lakshmi Shankar Mishra, Ajay Patel, Mo. Huzaif, Monu Mishra, Mahendra Mishra, Mohammad Yunus, Shubham Mishra, Salman Khan, Anjali Upadhyay, Mo. Dilshad, Suresh Kumar Saroj, Mohammad Wasim, Ashok Singh, Suresh Mishra, Aashiq Ali, Fateh Bahadur Singh, Anjani Kumar Pandey, Vinay Gupta, Ravindra Mishra, Radheshyam Dubey, Shahzad Salmani, Arbaaz Alam, Abu Shama, Ravi Pratap Singh, Uma Devi Purkhin, Gomti, Alok Pandey, Mo. Vaish, Girish Mishr, Sanjay Pal, Awadh Narayan Singh, Chandra Bhushan Pandey, Ranvijay Bahadur, Mohammad Salim, Himanshu Gupta, Shabbir and Mohammad Aqib, along with hundreds of others.