Ministries default on electricity bill
Different government, semi-government and autonomous bodies owed Tk 806 crore to the power, energy and mineral resources ministry in electricity bills.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu revealed this while replying to lawmakers' queries in parliament yesterday.
Of the total dues, different government offices owed Tk 401 crore while semi-government and autonomous bodies owed Tk 405 crore, he said.
Nasrul Hamid also produced a list of 21 ministries that are major bill defaulters.
The local government and rural development ministry tops the list with outstanding bills of Tk 280 crore.
Of the other offices, the housing and public works ministry owed Tk 110 crore, the health and family welfare ministry Tk 43.23 crore, the home ministry Tk 39.41 crore, the textiles and jute ministry Tk 35.78 crore, the education ministry Tk 35.49 crore and the defence ministry Tk 17.97 crore.
To realise the outstanding bills, they had taken various measures, which include holding regular meetings with the bill defaulter ministries and authorities, sending demand orders to the secretaries of the ministries concerned and disconnecting electricity lines, said the state minister.
The ministry was also conducting mobile courts to this end. Besides, pre-paid meter and SMS bill payment systems had been also introduced, he added.
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