Barwani (Madhya Pradesh): The state governmentís much anticipated Samadhan Scheme to clear the pending electricity bills of 8.8 million consumers in the state suffered a major blow after the name of Kokila Prem Singh Patel surfaced in the beneficiary list from Barwani circle.
She is the wife of Barwani MLA and state animal husbandry minister Prem Singh Patel and her name was mentioned on the sixth spot in the list of top 25 beneficiaries from Barwani circle issued by the Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board on Thursday. As per the list, the department waived off the total bill amount of Rs 67, 117.
Meanwhile, as soon as Congress leaders from Barwani raised their objection to the list, the board immediately released another list removing the name of Kokila Patel, a former president of Barwani municipality.
In Barwani district alone, as many as 1.66 lakh families have benefited from this Samadhan Scheme as electricity bills to the tune of Rs 38,76,14,000 were waived off.
The state government had introduced the Samadhan Scheme to clear the pending electricity bills but 4.8 million consumers have already deposited Rs 189 crore. These consumers can feel cheated so we have decided to adjust their payment in future bills, officials said.
However, Congress got an opportunity to question the scheme. Congress leader Rajendra Mandloi said that earlier a list was released in which Kokila Prem Singh Patel's name was mentioned, in which her electricity bill of more than Rs 67,000 was waived off, but when Congress raised a question on this, the department immediately removed the name from the list and replaced her name with a person from Khetia at the sixth spot.
Mandloi also accused the government of the stepmotherly treatment of Congress workers, saying that a majority of BJP workers have been given relief, while Congress workers in the district are deprived of benefits only because they are associated with the Congress party.
On the other hand, rubbishing Congress leaderís claim, BJP district president Om Soni questioned the absence of Congress leaders and workers during the Corona period. Soni dodged media questions on the cabinet minister's wife's name in the list of beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, repeated attempts to contact Prem Singh Patel failed as he did not pick up the phone. On the other hand, when contacted MPSEB assistant engineer KS Malviya refused to comment on the entire incident.
