RTI activist Anil Galgali had asked the information about the electricity bills sent to the ministers during months of March, April, May, June, and July.
It was highlighted in the media how Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) sent bills way higher than the normal to common people. The same BEST administration did not send electricity bills to the ministers in the state government for 4-5 months of lockdown.
RTI activist Anil Galgali had asked the information about the bills sent to the ministers during months of March, April, May, June, and July. Galgali was informed by the Public works department’s south sub-division that due to COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown, the office had not received the bills. Out of 17 bungalows, only 5 of them have received the electricity bills. The documents procured by Galgali have information about the deputy chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, CM’s Principal Secretary Ajoy Mehta, and 15 other ministers with 17 bungalows.
Out of these 15 ministers, 5 have not been sent bills for the last five months. Dadaji Bhuse, KC Padvi, Amit Deshmukh, Hasan Mushrif, and Sanjay Rathod are the 5 ministers. 10 ministers have not been sent bills for the last 4 months. Dr. Jitendra Awhad, Aditya Thackeray, Dhananjay Munde, Vijay Vadettiwar, Uday Samant, Varsha Gaikwad, Gulabrao Patil, Sandeep Bhumre, Ad. Anil Parab and Balasaheb Patil are among these 10 ministers.
According to Anil Galgali, for the period of lockdown, the people in the state have faced troubles owing to the electricity bills. In such a situation, it is surprising that no bills were sent to ministers. If the bills are not received on time, consumers themselves go online to pay the bills. But the BEST has been unnecessarily kind to these ministers, Galgali said.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
