Kejriwal tweets misinformation on free electricity and power cuts.

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Explanation

Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi shared a chart to claim that Delhi has India’s least power cuts with free and 24/7 electricity. He quotes ‘India Residential Energy Survey, CEEW (Council on Energy, Environment and Water) as the source of the chart. He further mentions that only Punjab and Delhi have free electricity in the whole country and these two states have the least number of power cuts as they both are being governed by his Aam Aadmi Party (AAM).

What is the truth?

When searching for the chart that shows the details of state-wise daily power cuts, we found a study carrying the original version of the chart Arvind Kejriwal shared. The data that he shared is from a study “State of Electricity Access in India, Insights from the India Residential Energy Survey (IRED), 2020” on Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) website.

The data in the original chart varies when compared to that of the one shared by Kejriwal. The data that vary in the chart are as follows:

1. Kejriwal’s chart has data for 9 states whereas the original chart gives data for 21 states.
2. Punjab stands next to Delhi in Kejriwal’s chart where it originally stands at 5th place after Delhi, Kerala, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

Arvind Kejriwal further mentions that only Punjab and Delhi have free electricity in the whole country and these two states have the least number of power cuts.

States with free electricity:

Punjab – Punjab provides 600 units of free electricity per billing cycle since 2022 after AAP comes to power. Till then, the state of Punjab ruled by INC has 400 units of free electricity per billing cycle, and was increased to 600 units after AAP comes to power. The power consumption exceeding the mentioned units per billing cycle will be charged for the excess units along with full fixed charges, meter rentals and government levies as applicable, reported Indian Express. The AAP party is not the one to introduce free electricity in the state as the scheme already existed.

Delhi – The AAP government provides 200 units of free electricity per month. Those consuming 201-400 units get a 50 percent subsidy, capped at ₹ 850. NDTV reported, “Last year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced power subsidies would be provided to only those consumers who apply for it.”

Other States – Punjab and Delhi are not the only states that provide free electricity. Andhra Pradesh is providing free electricity to the farmers at least since 2004. Tamil Nadu is providing free electricity to the farmers at least since 1989. Tamil Nadu is also providing 100 units of free electricity to domestic consumers. In addition to it, multiple states including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka provide power subsidies to farmers and domestic consumers.

Read More: https://en.youturn.in/articles/tamilnadu-electricity-bill-hike.html

States with the least number of power cuts:

The original chart showing the daily power cuts listed the states in the order – Delhi, Kerala, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Punjab as the least number of power cuts. Punjab and Delhi are not the states with the least power cuts but Delhi, Kerala and Gujarat are listed as the top states maintaining slightly over 23 hours of average supply in both urban and rural areas, mentioned the study. The duration of electricity supply is mentioned state-wise in the report.

Moreover, the study was executed in 2020 when AAP was not in power in the state of Punjab. The Aam Aadmi Party comes to power in 2022 pushing back INC that was ruling the state.

The data collection period of the survey is mentioned as November 2019 to March 2020 in the report.

Conclusion

It is found that the claim made by Arvind Kejriwal that Punjab and Delhi are the only two states that provide free electricity in the whole country is false. And Delhi and Punjab are not the states with the least number of power cuts. Delhi, Kerala and Gujarat are the states with least power cuts.