Municipal Administration Minister M Mahidhar Reddy on Tuesday informed the State Legislative Assembly that the government was not contemplating to remove the public taps set up for poor people in slum areas in cities.
Replying to a question raised by Congress MLA Shaik Mastan Vali and others during Question Hour, the minister said that there was no proposal to provide free tap connections to poor people in the urban area. However, he said that the government has issued orders to sanction one House service connection on payment of Rs 1,200 per connection, including the cost of pipes and road cutting charges to the Below Poverty households, possessing a white cards and not having access to house service connection.
To further reduce the burden on the urban poor, the tap connection charges were reduced from Rs 1200 to Rs 200 per connection to BLP households through a GO. (INN)