End VIP culture, Assam CM asks ministers, MLAs, govt employees to pay power bills

Sarma said the state is aiming to reduce the rate of electricity bills by ₹1 per unit for the benefit of those from the lower income groups

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday asked all ministers, MLAs and government employees staying in government quarters to pay their electricity bills beginning July 1.

Assam CM said that this is an attempt to end VIP culture in the state. (Himanta Biswa Sarma | Facebook)

He said that this is an attempt to end VIP culture, adding that he will be the first person to start paying the bills.

“We are ending the #VIPCulture rule of paying electricity bills of government officials using taxpayer money. Myself and the chief secretary will set an example and start paying our power bills from July 1 onwards. Beginning July 2024, all public servants will have to pay for their own electricity consumption,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Sarma said the state is aiming to reduce the rate of electricity bills by ₹1 per unit for the benefit of those from the lower income groups.

“We are aiming to reduce the rate by ₹1 rupee per unit by April next year and we’ll reduce another 50 paise per unit next year,” he said.

As part of the drive to save electricity, the Assam government has also decided to introduce auto-disconnection of electricity at all the government offices after 8pm.

“We have undertaken an initiative to implement auto-disconnection of electricity at all Government offices (barring CM Secretariat, Home and Finance Department) at 8pm so that we can save electricity. This measure is already in place at 8,000 Government offices, schools across the state”, he said.