A BILL to amend the Electricity Act to allow non-discriminatory open access to distribution networks of power suppliers was introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday amid protests by the Opposition, which claimed that it seeks to take away certain rights of State Governments.

Power Minister R K Singh introduced the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 and urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer it to a parliamentary standing committee for wider consultations to address concerns raised by the Opposition.

Opposing the introduction of the bill, RSP member N K Premachandran, Congress members Manish Tewari and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, CPI(M)’s M A Arif, Trinamool member Saugata Roy and DMK leader T R Baalu said, the draft legislation was against the federal structure of the Constitution.

The Power Minister claimed that the Opposition members were indulging in “false propaganda” against the Bill.

The Bill is aimed at allowing privatisation of electricity on the lines of communication. If the bill is passed in both the Houses, customers will have the option to choose the supplier of electricity just like one can choose for telephone, mobile and Internet services.

No mechanism to rank cities on pollution: Govt

THE Government on Monday said that there is no established mechanism for ranking cities in terms of pollution and that the satellite data used for the purpose by private institutions and universities is not validated by proper ground truthing.

Union Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey said this in the Lok Sabha in response to a question by Congress MP Jyotsna Charandas Mahant.

“There is no established mechanism for ranking cities in terms of pollution. It also requires authentic data and proper peer review,” the minister said.

‘No proposal to constitute 8th Pay Commission’

UNION Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, on Monday informed the Lok Sabha that the Government has no proposal under consideration to constitute the 8th Central Pay Commission for the Central Government employees.

The minister replied to a question on whether the Government proposes to ensure a timely constitution of the 8th Central Pay Commission for Central employees.