Raman-Bhupesh at loggerheads over CSEB work privatization

Central Chronicle News
Raipur, Feb 27: Former Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh and current Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel are on loggerheads over the reported privatization move of the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) for selected services in neighbouring Baloda Bazar District.
Sharing the media report on social media, the former Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh launched scathing attack on Congress government. He stated that while the Congress government in Chhattisgarh is opposing the move of Centre to privatise the Nagarnar Steel Plant, the present government here is gearing up to hand over the CSEB to private hand for various services. He went on to claim that Congress is adopting double standard on key issues.
Meanwhile while talking to section of media persons here, the Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel termed the report to be false and added that no such decision has been taken by the Congress government and even blamed his predecessor Dr Raman Singh for misinformation.
At the same time, the CSEB Chairman Ankit Anand too released in a statement after the issue was raked up by the opposition here.
He claimed that all the works related to the power system of the state are executed by Chhattisgarh State Power Companies. Power companies under Chhattisgarh Government are committed to protect the interests of the consumers in the state. The performance of State Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Company has received national acclaim. No proposal for privatization of such companies is under consideration with the state government. The aforementioned information was provided by Ankit Anand, Chairman of Chhattisgarh State Power Companies.
Describing certain reports about privatization of these companies as misleading, he said that no such decision has been taken to hand over the franchisee (privatization) of electricity system of any area in the state including Baloda Bazar. Furthermore, Anand informed that as per State Government’s policy, power companies have been providing satisfactory services to more than 56 lakh consumers of different categories in the state. These are some strong evidences to prove that the reports about privatization of the company are false and baseless. Transmission, maintenance, billing, revenue collection and other related works of power distribution system across the state are being carried out by the power companies.
Dismissing the news published in media about the privatization of works such as meter reading, billing and revenue collection in Baloda Bazar as baseless, Anand said that it is State Government’s priority to protect the interest of consumers in the state and it is also paramount for company management.