Palampur former MLA opposes smart power meters, questions government’s intentions

Amid growing public opposition to the installation of smart electricity meters in the state, former Palampur MLA Praveen Kumar Sharma has questioned the government’s priorities and intentions. He said that for a long time now, the people of the state had been holding protests and submitting memoranda against the decision to install smart meters, but the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government appeared completely indifferent to public sentiments.

He said that the government was viewing the honest and peace-loving citizens of the state with suspicion and issuing directives on the pretext of power theft. He questioned why, despite widespread public opposition, the government was unwilling to reconsider its decision. “This clearly raises doubts that the government may have entered into a major deal with the company installing the smart meters,” he alleged.

Praveen alleged that there was a lack of transparency in the government’s approach. He argued that even in today’s modern era, many areas in the state continued to suffer from a severely outdated and unsafe power infrastructure. In several places, electricity cables were still mounted on bamboo poles, broken pipes or even tied to trees instead of proper electric poles.

He said that frequent power fluctuations had become a regular feature in urban areas like Palampur while flickering bulbs and a tangled web of overhead wires pose constant risks. “At the slightest hint of strong winds, storms or thunderclouds, electricity supply collapses, plunging the entire area into darkness for hours or even throughout the night,” he added.

According to the former MLA, such poor infrastructure and mismanagement resulted in huge revenue losses for the Power Department. He questioned how installing smart meters could address these core issues when the real problems were related to a crumbling distribution network and inadequate maintenance.

Praveen urged the government to shift its focus from installing smart meters to resolving long-standing public grievances. He said that the state would be benefited far more if the government introduced a comprehensive plan to modernise the electricity network, reduce technical losses and lay underground power lines to ensure a reliable, transparent and consumer-friendly power supply.

He added that without strengthening the basic power infrastructure and restoring public trust, decisions like installing smart meters would continue to face resistance from people.