Srinagar May 05 (KNS) : The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Thursday met scores of individual, public delegations who called on him at Gupkar to wish him Eid greetings.
Earlier a number of former legislators, prominent citizens and people from all walks of life also called on the party President Dr Farooq Abdullah as well.
On the issue of installation of Smart electric meters, Omar said the administration is installing the meters with utmost disregard to those sections who find it difficult to make both ends meet. "How can daily wagers and BPL consumers pay hefty power bills? Government should genuinely consider poor people of the society and be exempted from smart meters. Hikes in cooking gas and other daily items have already made life difficult for them. If the government wants to go with the universal installation of smart meters then it should give jobs to children, attend to the woes of bleeding handicraft, tourism and services sectors, so that our people can afford to pay power bills. Everyone is not rich enough to pay the huge bills of electricity. Most of our people pay a flat rate which is affordable for everyone. There should be some provision for poor people so that they can also get some respite,” he added.
On the occasion he expressed gratitude to the visiting individual public and individual delegations for their visit. Party senior leaders and a number of office bearers were also present on the occasion. (KNS)