Uttar Pradesh's power cut problem is no secret. Frequent outages, beleaguered state discoms, and massive protests by citizens and discom employees almost every month define the poor state of the power sector in the state. And the cherry on top is how ministers respond to citizens' grievances.
The Centre claims '100% electrification' in India, but whether electricity is reaching households is a different story altogether. The Allahabad High Court in 2021 had passed an order, stating that the healthcare system in rural UP seemed to be running "Ram bharose" or at the mercy of the Gods. Now, UP Energy Minister Arvind Kumar Sharma seems to have taken that to heart for his department and is actually depending on 'Lord Ram' and 'Hanuman' to resolve power cut problems.
Three-Hour Power Supply
A video of AK Sharma is now viral, where he can be seen shouting "Jai Shri Ram" when citizens approached him with grievances of frequent power cuts. This incident is said to have happened on Wednesday, when AK Sharma was going from Jaunpur to Sultanpur. On the way, traders in Surapur town stopped him and complained about power cuts.
The traders said only three hours of electricity were being provided in the town, and the SDO even fixed the time for power supply. They said a board had been put up declaring that electricity would be available only from noon to 3 PM.
When the traders submitted a memorandum seeking help in boosting the capacity of the substation, replacing the old wires and separating the market feeder from the village feeder, the minister first folded his hands and said, "Okay, okay, let's see," and then started shouting "Jai Shri Ram" and "Jai Hanuman". He then sped away in his car.
The Aam Aadmi Party hit out at the BJP over the incident, saying: "Instead of resolving people's issues, the power minister just ran away."