Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was among the first to arrive at his office at 7:30 am on Tuesday as part of the revised timings for government offices in the state during the summer. The Punjab government has decided to operate all government offices from 7:30 am to 2 pm starting today until July 15 to ease the load on electricity demand.
“This initiative would help save power. Though we have no shortage of power, but this will help save 350 MW of power in a day,” Mann said while speaking to the media. He also mentioned that this reduction in power consumption could save Rs 16-17 crore per month in power bills if monetized.
However, Haryana Power Minister Ranjit Singh took a swipe at the Bhagwant Mann government’s decision to change government offices’ timings in the state to ease the load on electricity demand during the summer. Singh claimed that Punjab would face a shortage of electricity in the coming days. He also boasted that Haryana does not face any shortage of electricity as they do not supply free electricity.
“We didn’t even increase the electricity rates for many years but electricity is being provided to people. While Punjab government is distributing free electricity and is now starting to face problems. Due to this reason, the state government ordered to change the office timings from 7:30 am to 2:00 pm, and we think that in the coming days, Punjab will face a shortage of electricity,” he added.
However, the Power Minister assured that keeping the summer season in mind, the Haryana government has made preparations in case of a hike in demand. “Just like last time, this time also in Haryana, we will not let the shortage of electricity,” said Singh.
