Former power minister Manik Dey calls for resistance against increase in electricity bills and deterioration in service
By Our Correspondent
Agartala, July 2, 2026
Former power minister and veteran CPI (M) leader Manik Dey has appealed to people and power consumers to rise in resistance against the administered hike in power tariff and anti-people power sector reforms being implemented by the BJP government in state and centre. He said that since the year 2018 when the BJP had come to power the power sector in the state has gone from bad to worse. “There was a time when the power sector used to give dividend to the state government but now the TSECL is over-burdened by debts and the TSECL acting as proxy of the state government has been increasing the tariff on one excuse or the other, dealing a blow to the vital interests of consumers” said Manik Dey.
He said that the BJP ruled centre is planning to do away with cross-subsidy in the power sector in next five years and, as a result , the tariff paid by common consumers and the industrialists will be the same. This will adversely affect the poorer sections of society. “As per the provisions of the National Electricity Bill -2026-2027 the tariff in all the states will have to be cost-based as all subsidies will be withdrawn; this will be known as cost-effective tariff and a blow to the poor people” said Manik Dey. He also pointed out that the BJP led government in centre is trying to entirely privatize the vital power sector and this will deal another unbearable blow to the poorer sections of the society.
He said that the state government in Tripura has raised tariff by .77 paise per unit since the year 2025, citing higher prices of gas and fuels but there is no assurance that the tariff will not rise further . “The state’s own power generation resources like Rookhi and Barmura thermal plants and the Dumbur hydro-electrical plant have stopped producing as much power as they did earlier; the state government is not trying to upgrade these generation centres” said Manik Dey. He also pointed out that the TSECL at the instance of the state government has raised ‘duty charge’ and ‘fixed charge’ pertaining to the electricity bills from domestic and commercial users. But the TSECL is not serious about recouping the recurring losses like power theft and transmission loss on a regular basis. Manik Dey has also sharply criticized the engagement of dubious private entities in the vital power sector and outsourcing of works that can be done by regular employees and technocrats of the power department as well as the TSECL.
He also called upon the people to united in demanding roll-back of hiked tariff , supply of power at cheap rate, resist the outsourcing of power sector in private hands and rescinding of the Power (amendment) Bill -2025. Manik Dey also indicated that the CPI (M) will organize people for an agitational programme on these issues.
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