CM Reveals in Himachal Assembly: 79 Meters Registered Under a Single BPL Family

Shimla, August 19 — The issue of power subsidies and smart meters was raised strongly during Question Hour in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu revealed that several families listed under the BPL category have dozens of electricity meters registered in their names. He disclosed that one BPL consumer has 79 meters, another 75, and a third 70 meters in their names.

The Chief Minister clarified that the government is currently providing 125 units of electricity free of cost and this benefit has not been withdrawn. He added that the Congress government had promised 300 free units, and a decision on this will be taken in the future depending on the state’s financial position. “No poor or needy family will lose their entitlement to free electricity,” he assured.

Sukhu further informed that the government had appealed to citizens to voluntarily give up their electricity subsidy, and around 12,000–15,000 consumers had done so, saving the power board ₹59 lakh. He added that Congress MLAs and ministers had already surrendered their subsidy and urged the opposition to do the same to set a positive example for society.

Responding to a primary question, the Chief Minister said that between last year and February 20, 2025, the government had spent ₹17,95,879 on the electricity bills of leaders with Cabinet rank. On the smart meter issue, he stated that so far 6,52,955 meters have been installed in Shimla city, Dharamshala, and some parts of the Shimla zone, with the remaining areas of the zone expected to be covered by February 2026. For Mandi, Hamirpur, and Dharamshala zones, the process of installing 5,05,078 smart meters has begun, while approval has been granted for an additional 14,78,945 installations.

Congress MLA Sudhir Sharma asked whether the company contracted to install smart meters had been blacklisted in other states. The Chief Minister said the matter would be investigated. Meanwhile, MLA Dr. Hans Raj raised concerns about the jobs of meter readers. Sukhu assured the House that no one would lose employment and that these workers would be reassigned to other roles under rationalization.