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TN Minister calls out Mohandas Pai’s tweet on ‘discriminatory’ power tariff

Jun 26, 2022

The tweet was by TV Mohandas Pai, and it claimed that the electricity tariff system was discriminatory against the Hindus in Tamil Nadu.

A tweet circulating false information about electricity tariff payable by places of religious worship in Tamil Nadu, has not been deleted even after it was debunked by multiple persons. The tweet talked about the difference in electricity tariff imposed on different places of religious worship, and claimed that it was several times higher for temples.

The tweet was posted by Chairman of Aarin Capital TV Mohandas Pai on June 23, and stated, “Folks is this true? That temples and Hindus are being discriminated against in Tamil Nadu? @MRVChennai @jsaideepak⁩ if true this is against the constitution guarantees of Equality ⁦@ARanganathan72 @republic @RShivshankar @navikakumar.”

This post was accompanied by an image claiming that the electricity rate for mosques and churches in Tamil Nadu was Rs 2.85 per unit, but for temples it was Rs 8 per unit, and also added another message about Hindus being discriminated against in the state.

However, the very next day Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise V Senthilbalaji busted the claim by saying that it was misleading information. Stating that there was no discrimination, the Minister also said that there was no tariff at the rate of Rs 8 per unit for places of worship as alleged.

“Dear Sir, don’t post misleading information in the Public Domain. The Temple, Mosque and Church are being classified under public place of worship category without any discrimination. The low tension service tariff rate for the places of public worship is Rs. 5.75 per unit. The Government of Tamil Nadu is giving a subsidy of Rs. 2.90 per unit for the first 120 units for two months. Hence, the net tariff payable is Rs 2.85 per unit for the first 120 units for two months and after 120 units, Rs 5.75 is being billed uniformly. Always uniform tariff rate is being adopted to all the places of worship in Tamil Nadu irrespective of its category without any disparity. There is no tariff at the rate of Rs 8 per unit for places of worship as you alleged. Thanks for your understanding (sic),” he said in a tweet.

However, even after a day Senthilbalaji busted the claim, the tweet was not deleted leading to others also pointing out that the information was misleading. Prominent personalities including MP Jothimani, Minister P Thiaga Rajan and others tweeted regarding the same.

“Yesterday Hon EB min @V_Senthilbalaji has given a very humble reply. Despite that this fake news peddler hasn’t apologize and remove the tweet. It still there. #TNEB must proceed with legal action against @TVMohandasPai. TN is not a place to spread hate and religious tention (sic),” Jothimani tweeted.

“There are bigots. There are morons. And then there is this specimen who either 1) Is clueless to the point of being oblivious that he re-posts a (typical for the cult) hate-inducing myth debunked 3 YEARS ago OR 2) Knowingly spews fake news to induce hate AGAIN Which is worse? (sic),” PTR had tweeted.

The debunked tweet has now been retweeted close to 4,300 times on Twitter.

Source: The News Minute

Published in News