Financial institutions and co-operative banks often post foreclosure notices on loanees' houses when they default on loan payments. Similarly, the rule is that there is no need for a special notice to disconnect the electricity connection of the consumer who fails to pay the electricity bill on time. This past Saturday, the electricity connection at Malappuram Civil Station was disconnected. The functioning of many government offices there has also been disrupted. Failure to pay the electricity bill on time was the cause of such action. The offices include PWD, DEO, Soil Conservation, PRD etc. Without electricity, no work can be done in government offices. On Monday morning, most of the offices took steps to pay the bill immediately after the news of the disconnection of the electricity connection to the civil station. Electricity was restored at these offices. But at PWD and the DEO office, there was a delay in paying the dues. It might not be deliberate that these two offices did not show the diligence shown by other departments. The bill can be paid only if there is enough money at the office. The government is left with an empty treasury and has no money even for urgent needs.

The employees of the medical department say that they were forced to disconnect the electricity connection when the government offices working in the civil station did not show interest in settling the outstanding bills despite continuous reminders. There are even offices where six and eight months of bills are unpaid. This is the situation not only in Malappuram but also in all the districts, even at top offices in Thiruvananthapuram. Apart from the civil station in Malappuram, the magistrate court and the food safety office are on the list of offices with arrears. The electricity connection in those places was not disconnected to avoid disruption of work at these offices.

Government institutions are at the top among the offices that fail to make timely payments of electricity and water bills. Three-quarters of the more than Rs 2000 cr arrears to the Electricity Board is by the government offices. The same is the case with the Water Authority. Paying the bills without delay is a matter that should be done by those responsible for this in the respective offices. The arrears multiply and become a huge number when this is forgotten. There is also a general belief that no matter how much the dues increase, electricity and water supply to government offices will not be cut off. The incident at Malappuram Civil Station proves that this perception is not correct. Even though this isn't a problem for the people in the offices, the district authorities or the government itself, it is a blackout for those who go to and from the government offices everyday for various purposes.