Electricity dept issues bill of Rs 1.82 lakh to poor man in Etah, who left the village two decades ago

AGRA: This is not the first such incident and probably not the last such incident you will ever hear about. As long as we have lethargic government officials being entrusted with important tasks in the electricity department, bombshells such as this one will keep cropping up.
In a bizarre case, a poor man who had left the village two decades ago, had the shock of his life as he learnt that an electricity bill of Rs 1.80 lakh amount was issued in his name for a connection that never even existed in Etah.
Islam Malik, former resident of Nagla Teli village of Kotwali police jurisdiction, is a street vendor in Faridabad. He had been pleading to electricity officials about the discrepancies for last two years, but no one seem to have paid heed to his request.
“I even paid Rs 50,000 bribe to babus by selling jewellery of my wife so that, they rectify the mistake and give me relief, but to no avail, instead they later threatened me to put me behind the bars if I didn’t pay the amount,” said Malik.
He said, “In 1998 I had applied for electricity connection but was refused as the official claimed that they don’t provide connection for ‘hut’. Later in 2015 I was given a bill of Rs 1, 80, 290 for electricity which I never consumed.”
“We were struggling to make daily bread and butter in Faridabad but were satisfied with our lives, but this electric bill was massive bomb and it ruined us,” he added.
Meanwhile in 2000, Malik sold his land to his friend to clear the medical bill of his daughter. Later the family shifted permanently in Faridabad. In 2015, Malik was contacted by villagers and informed about the bill. Interestingly, there was no electric pole near by the land, which Malik sold to his friend.
On Tuesday, Islam Malik met district magistrate Amit Kishore of Etah and narrated the ordeal. Taking cognizance of matter, the district magistrate called for a probe.
“Prima facie it seems to be gross negligence and irresponsible professional attitude of electricity department officials, who did not bother to even cross check the ground reality. There was no electricity connection on the victim’s name. I have recommended suspension of two officials who are responsible for this goof-up,” he said.