NOC from DHBVN must to contest panchayat poll

Parvesh Sharma

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Tribune News Service

Jind, August 20

Having failed to recover a whopping Rs 1,071 crore in power dues, the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) here hopes to recover a large chunk from this amount before the forthcoming panchayat polls.

Reason: The nigam authorities have prepared detailed lists of the defaulters and will not issue No Objection certificate (NOC) which is mandatory for the aspirants. Of the outstanding amount, around 85 per cent is owed by rural consumers.

The officials plan to check the ration cards of all aspirants and even if one member is a defaulter, the NOC will not be issued till the dues are cleared. “If anyone wants to contest the polls, he needs a NOC. We have directed our officers not to issue the certificate without recovering the pending amount,” said Xen Amit Kamboj.

There are 306 villages in the district and a majority of them have a high number of defaulters. Things are not so bad in towns like Jind city, Safidon, Narwana, Julana and Uchana people in the rural areas have been refusing to pay their bills despite getting many extensions.

Sources said there are 1,39,582 defaulters in the district who owe Rs 1,071 crores to DHBVN. Of these, 50,975 connections have been disconnected by authorities as defaulters owed Rs 260 crores while the remaining 88,607 defaulters owed Rs 811 crore to the nigam.

This decision has invited a mixed response from prospective candidates. “It’s wrong. If someone from my family is a defaulter, why should I be debarred? We would oppose it,” said Krishan, an aspirant from Pandu Pindara village. But Jaijawanti village outgoing Sarpanch Sunita has welcomed the decision and asked the power department to take maximum advantage of the occasion to recover their dues.

“We have prepared lists and would not issue any NOC only after people clear their dues. Since a majority of the outstanding amount is from the rural areas, we expect a good recovery,” said SE Daljit Singh.

Bhiwani village bans liquor during sarpanch elections

Bhiwani: Residents of Nihalgarh village of the district have resolved to ban the sale and consumption of liquor on its premises during the panchayat elections. They also administered oath to the prospective poll candidates of the sarpanch post. Shyopal Yadav, outgoing village sarpanch, who headed the gram sabha on the issue, told The Tribune that the ban was imposed on the initiative of youths who wanted non-violent and transparent elections. "Currently, three candidates - Surender Singh, Mahesh and Bhagat Ram -  who were aspiring to contest the sarpanch elections this time, were specially invited and administered the oath of not distributing liquor bottles to influence voters," he said. Yadav said the violators would be dealt with strictly, as the village panchayat had also decided to impose a fine of Rs 11,000 on the sale of liquor and Rs 1,100 on anyone found in inebriated condition. "A man was recently caught drunk and he was made to clean the village lanes till evening," he said. Expressing happiness over the move, Krishan Kumar, Amit and Arun, members of the village Yuva Vikas Mandal, said they wanted to save the youths from resorting to liquor and drugs. — Sat Singh, TNS