The business associations said they decided to protest, saying that dedicated feeders and trunk lines were connected to one and a half dozen industries in Rupandehi without their knowledge and forcing them to pay fees.
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Industrialists in Rupandehi demonstrated in the rain on Thursday to protest the Nepal Electricity Authority's decision to cut off electricity lines for non-payment of outstanding charges for dedicated feeders and trunk lines.
The industrialists protested, saying that they were forced to pay the toll for the trunk line that the industry did not demand.
Employees of closed industries, workers, various industry and commerce associations, and members of the Rupandehi Industry Association participated in the demonstration led by the Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Despite the rain on Thursday, they demonstrated at the gate of the Electricity Office in Bhairahawa from 11 am to 12 pm with banners and placards of the closed industries.
During the demonstration, the workers demanded that the government not cut jobs and show proof of their demand for the truck line. They shouted slogans saying that they would pay the toll as soon as the government provided the proof. They expressed anger that the government itself was trying to show the industrialists as bad guys. Tilottama Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Butwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rupandehi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, various labor unions, and GEFONT Nepal have expressed solidarity with the demonstration led by the Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Addressing the protest, the heads and representatives of various organizations said that although there is no doubt that the industrialists who have demanded dedicated feeders and truck lines should pay the tariff, they have joined the protest because it would be unfair to collect the tariff from the industrialists who have not demanded it.
The business organizations said that they decided to protest because they were forced to pay the tariff by connecting dedicated feeders and trunk lines to one and a half dozen industries in Rupandehi without informing them. ‘The peaceful protest program will continue in the coming days as well,’ said Netra Prasad Acharya, President of Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry. ‘Kulman Ghising has been behaving vindictively against the industrialists of Nepal since before he became the Energy Minister. Our industrialists have tried to become heroes by collecting money without bills and proof of electricity they have not used. We are organized against that. We will continue the movement.' He informed that the protest program for the coming days will be decided by coordinating among the organizations participating in the demonstration.
