Smart meters are creating havoc by burdening common people with exorbitant costs and paving the way for corporate control over essential electricity services. Under the guise of installing smart electricity meters, preparations are being made to turn the state electricity department into the “Adani Department,” alleged Shankar Lal Chaudhary, the state secretary of the CPI(ML). He expressed these views during a protest meeting held at the Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (AVVNL) office at Patel Circle, Udaipur, against the installation of smart meters and the privatization of electricity.
Chaudhary stated that the country’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is systematically selling off every national asset to his friends Adani and Ambani, making it clear that he has given them a license to loot the common people. However, he warned that the public will not tolerate this plunder. Addressing the gathering, CPI(M) district secretary and former councilor Rajesh Singhvi claimed that Adani’s 11th jet, worth ₹1000 crore, landed in Ahmedabad on August 27, and that the push for smart meters is a pretext to fund his 12th jet. Singhvi pointed out that the Electricity Act, 2003, clearly stipulates that a consumer’s meter can only be changed with their consent. He accused the authorities of flouting this law and establishing “jungle raj” by forcibly installing smart meters through strong-arm tactics. He raised the slogan, “While the slogan ‘Vote Chor-Gaddi Chhor‘ (Vote Thief-Abdicate the Throne) is popular in the country, a new slogan ‘Note Chor-Gaddi Chhor’ (Money Thief-Abdicate the Throne) will now be spread in opposition to smart meters.”
Presiding over the meeting, senior writer and litterateur Dr. Kusum Meghwal said the government is misleading the public by spreading the misconception that smart meters will only be installed under special circumstances. She asserted that the government’s intentions, not just its policies, are flawed, and vowed that the movement would continue until the decision to install smart meters is revoked. CPI(M) city secretary Hiralal Salvi drew an analogy, saying, “Just like in a story the king’s life resides in a parrot, the life of PM Narendra Modi resides in Adani and Ambani. So, whenever Adani-Ambani face a loss, Narendra Modi goes on a ventilator and tries to get relief for the public just to start breathing again.”
ACT secretary Saurabh Naruka stated that not only the BJP is to blame for introducing smart meters; the previous Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot is also complicit, as it awarded a ₹10,000 crore contract to Adani’s Genius Company for installing them in Rajasthan. CPI(M) councilor Rajendra Vasita highlighted that while consumers were never charged for meter replacements before, they are now being forced to pay between ₹8,000 to ₹10,000 for smart meters. He said the double-engine government at the center and state treats the public like a herd of goats, a misconception the people will correct this time.
Former councilor Ganpati Devi Salvi stated that the current central government is gradually handing over the country to private companies in the name of privatization, creating a major crisis for women, who will not remain distant from this struggle. Addressing the gathering, CPI(M) secretariat member Guman Singh Rao said the forced installation of smart meters on Rajasthan’s electricity consumers will severely impact the common people, especially the poor, laborers, farmers, and the lower class. He declared that smart meters are not in the consumer’s interest but are a step towards privatization, which will slowly hand over the power sector to private companies.
Other speakers at the event included Dr. Farhat Bano of AIPWA, Amjad Sheikh of CPI(M) Machla Mangra branch, former district secretary of Naujawan Sabha Anil Panor, Shamser Khan and Javed Khan of the Construction Workers Unity Union, Gopal Jaiswal, Damodar Kumawat of the Kachi Basti Federation, Raghunath Singh, Dhanraj Nimavat, Raeesa Bano, Tasleem Bano, state coordinator of the National Hawker Federation Yaqub Mohammad, and representatives from various auto-driver and labor unions.
At the end of the meeting, a delegation led by Dr. Kusum Meghwal submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Rajasthan to the Chief Engineer of AVVNL. The memorandum demanded the immediate revocation of the decision to install smart meters, the replacement of all installed smart meters with old ones, and called for the government to focus on providing regular and adequate power supply to rural areas and farmers instead. It also insisted on a time-bound resolution of recurring irregularities in the electricity bills of poor and underprivileged consumers to provide them relief. It was decided to intensify the movement and run a campaign to involve the general public of Udaipur in this struggle.
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