Before rushing to pull the fuse

While the government is trying to encourage young entrepreneurs in every possible way, on the other hand, they are trying to hurt them as much as possible through cold-blood measures. Many examples of this can be found all around. On Monday, we had published a report on the huge loss a young entrepreneur's had to face, because of disconnecting the electricity to his ice cream parlor near the Kollam Ashram grounds, due to arrears of Rs 214. After two consecutive days of power outage, the freezer became inoperable and the stored material became unusable. It is a loss of one lakh and twelve thousand rupees, which the young man lost all at once while trying to earn an income along with his studies.

The young entrepreneur says that he was not aware of the electricity bill arrears for the shop he was running on rent and the shop owner added that he had not received any such notification from the electricity board. Or even if there are arrears, isn't it polite to inform the defaulter before disconnecting the electricity? Especially when it's a shop that sells perishable products that get spoiled if the power goes out for a few hours. It may be the law to disconnect the electricity if the bill falls due. The law may not have to have eyes and ears. But those who are going to implement the law have all these things. Didn't they know that they were going to cut the power to the ice cream parlor? Then why did they hesitate to inform the owner?

If the information had been given over the phone, the power outage could have been prevented in time. This may seem like a small thing. But don't forget the fact that such small things contain much bigger problems in life. A two-month-old shop is suddenly facing a loss of more than one lakh rupees due to the ruthless action of the electricity board employees. A counterargument can be raised, that the connection had to be severed because of the arrears. Still, in such problems, there is the issue of etiquette. It is, for this reason, it is said that the officials who send the linemen away late, giving him the consumer number of those whose electricity needs to be disconnected, need to have a sense of propriety. Without cutting the power, the dues of Rs 214 could have been collected from the ice cream seller. It is a matter that could have been resolved as soon as information is provided. It is because they do not have faith in people that they try to implement a malicious law without attempting to do such a humane good.

Considering the crores that the electricity board has to fork out, the common consumers' share will not even be five percent. All those who have huge debts will become big debtors. No one is usually asked to pull their fuse. If the common man's shop is closed, nothing can happen to the board. If their fuse is pulled, they know that the bill will be paid the next day, even if it means that a housewife's chain is to be mortgaged. But before pulling a fuse like this, why not give the customer a chance? Even an execution date is postponed several times. Then why can't the payment of the electricity bill be given a day or two?