KATHMANDU, JUNE 11

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has undertaken an initiative to provide free electricity meters to marginalised and economically disadvantaged households.

NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising distributed complimentary electricity meters to economically disadvantaged households residing within the Gaushala region of Mahottari and the Dhanushadham Distribution Centre in Dhanusha within the Madhesh Province.

A distribution of free meters benefitted a total of 68 households in the Gaushala area and 162 households in the Dhanushadham Distribution Centre region.

NEA MD Ghising announced that the electrification initiative is currently in progress, with the objective of extending electricity access to citizens residing in areas lacking such infrastructure.

'At present, approximately 96 per cent of the electrification process has been accomplished,' Ghising said.

'The distribution of complimentary meters to the underprivileged people ensures access to electricity and helps mitigate power theft and unauthorised electricity usage, leading to a decrease in electrical accidents,' he added.

In anticipation of Madhesh Province being imminently declared as fully electrified, he appealed for immediate reporting of any areas lacking electricity and assistance in curbing power leakage.

As of April, the electricity leakage in distribution within Madhesh Province stood at 13.27 per cent.

Emphasising enhancing agricultural production and productivity through irrigation, Munindra Thakur, the head of Madhesh Province Regional Office of NEA in Janakpur, highlighted the substantial demand for irrigation electrification in the Tarai-Madhesh region.

Among the 1,044,000 customers served by the authority in eight districts of Madhesh Province, around 934,000 are households, and out of them, approximately 200,000 customers benefit from a single-phase meter with a five-ampere capacity, receiving 20 units of free electricity monthly with a nominal fee of Rs 30.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 12, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.