Helpline numbers have been issued for the consumers by the department of electricity. There is actually no point of having such numbers when the department adopts an indifferent attitude. In a recent incident, such a situation has come to light where the electricity office in Fatehpura area unplugged the telephone cable to escape responding to complaints.

 People from Badi Village were facing power cut since past few days. When the office didn’t pick up calls, they reached the office only to learn that the staff had unplugged the telephone cable to avoid getting any calls. Consumers made a video of this. The office staff could not give a satisfactory reply for unanswered calls.

Badi village resident Suresh Meghwal and other complainants said that their village was facing power cut since a long time. From morning to evening, long power cuts made it difficult for the villagers to carry on since certain things cannot be done without electricity. When they called up the electricity office to lodge a complaint, the phone calls went unanswered. They also said that even when phone calls are answered; it does not make any huge difference since the problem is not solved.

Lack of electricity affects daily chores. It also poses a problem for the children who need to study. It is also difficult to get a peaceful night’s sleep since mosquitoes are in great numbers. Devendra Tank, Pushkar Meghwal and Nathulal Gameti from Badi village said that Electricty Corporation talks of digitalising their services. What good is it if they don’t answer phone calls?

XEN Paliwal was confronted with this issue. He denied the unplugging of phone cable. He said that their office gets almost 100 such complaints everyday and there is a staff of 10 members. The office cannot let the phone go unanswered for a long time.He admitted that there are loop holes in every department but keeping the phone off the hook or unplugging it for a long time is not possible. He said that the consumers should report such matters to the JEN.