In Kashmir, Pan-India Power Reform Turns into Political Weapon Against Omar Abdullah | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: A countrywide power-sector reform, which the Government of India has said it has rolled out in phases since 2023, has spiralled into a full-blown political confrontation in Jammu and Kashmir, where opposition parties are using the initiative to target Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The reform proposes a twenty per cent surcharge on electricity consumed during peak hours and is now being deployed as fresh political ammunition in the Valley.

The measure stems from a notification issued by the Union Power Ministry in June 2023 under the amended Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules. Under the Time of Day tariff framework mandated across India, tariffs during solar hours are to be ten to twenty per cent cheaper, while power consumed during peak hours is to be billed at ten to twenty per cent higher rates. The Centre has said that commercial and industrial consumers came under the regime from April 2024 and that domestic consumers, barring agricultural households, will follow from April 2025 after smart meters are installed.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission has already conducted two public hearings on the proposal, first in Jammu on November 18 and then in Srinagar on November 20. Its award will eventually determine how distributors in Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh implement the national framework.

The Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited has placed its formal proposal before the Commission to levy a twenty per cent surcharge on electricity consumed during the peak-morning and peak-evening hours of six to ten in the morning and five to ten in the evening.

Although the move flows from the Centre’s rules, political parties across the spectrum have swiftly turned it into a campaign against Omar Abdullah, even though the elected government asserts it was neither consulted nor informed about the process.

The reaction comes at a moment when the ruling National Conference is still recovering from its shock defeat in the Budgam by-election, where anger over smart meters and the unfulfilled promise of two hundred free units of electricity dominated voter sentiment. The proposed surcharge has now reopened those wounds.

Political leaders have seized on the public anger. Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari called the measure a grave injustice, arguing that families dependent on tourism and horticulture, both of which have struggled this year, cannot bear an additional financial blow. PDP MLA Waheed Para said electricity in Kashmir was a lifeline and warned that tariff increases on poor and middle-class households would be catastrophic.

Peoples Conference leader Molvi Imran Ansari questioned who was actually framing power-sector decisions in the Union Territory. He recalled that promises of free units had been made not long ago and said people were now being asked to pay extra precisely when they needed electricity the most. He termed the development a betrayal of public trust.

Senior NC MLA Tanvir Sadiq attempted to contain the damage by insisting that the Omar Abdullah government would not allow any unfair or ill-timed burden on households. He reiterated that the government had already taken a stand against the proposal and would oppose its implementation.

Yet attacks have continued from within and outside the political mainstream. BJP State Executive Member Aijaz Hussain said the government had promised free units but was now discussing a twenty per cent hike, which he called anti-people and insensitive. PDP leader Arif Laigaroo described the draft tariff as exorbitant and said it exposed an anti-people mindset.

NC Women’s Wing President and MLA Shameema Firdous rejected attempts to link the surcharge with the elected government, describing the political framing as motivated and false. She pointed out that even the KPDCL Managing Director had clarified that the proposal was not Kashmir-specific and that the decision rested with the JERC under pan-India rules. She said any imposition of the ToD tariff should be reviewed by the Centre, which had introduced the reform.

The NC’s chief spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar echoed that position, saying the regulator was acting under national policy and that the elected government had neither initiated nor supported the proposal. He said the party would oppose the recommendation “tooth and nail” and accused the Lieutenant Governor of misunderstanding the regulatory process in his attempts to shift responsibility.

The Leader of the Opposition, BJP lawmaker, Sunil Sharma, mounted one of the sharpest attacks, accusing the NC of practising electoral fraud. He said Omar Abdullah had made promises of two hundred free units, yet a year later households were facing proposed peak-hour charges. He challenged the government to disclose how many families had actually benefited from the promise.

Further criticism came from CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami, who warned that even darkness was becoming expensive. He said the recommendation should be rejected and that the promise to below-poverty-line families must be fulfilled. He added that raising tariffs while power shortages intensify would only worsen frustration in the Valley.

As winter approaches, the pan-India reform that the Centre has said it has introduced to balance demand and supply, integrate renewable energy, and shift consumption to cheaper solar hours has become politically combustible in Jammu and Kashmir. For the Omar Abdullah administration, which has claimed no prior consultation over the issue, the coming weeks may determine whether the surcharge remains a regulatory matter or grows into a renewed political crisis across the region.