The Jammu and Kashmir administration’s decision to install Smart Meters in every household by August 2026, under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) and the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), raises more concerns than confidence. While officials promote this move as a progressive reform, citizens continue to grapple with a far more basic crisis—an unreliable and erratic power supply.
Technology can indeed be transformative—but only when foundational services are firmly in place. What value does a “smart meter” hold in a household that experiences hours of power cuts daily?
Across both the Jammu and Kashmir divisions, residents continue to suffer voltage fluctuations, unannounced outages, and persistent load shedding, often during peak hours. In this context, the administration’s plan to extend prepaid smart metering to over 14 lakh additional consumers, without first ensuring uninterrupted electricity, seems not just premature but misplaced.
Authorities claim that smart meters will usher in transparency, curb power theft, and empower consumers to track and manage their electricity usage. While commendable in theory, the ground reality paints a very different picture. Many households with installed smart meters report receiving bills based on flat rates or estimated consumption—undermining the very purpose of such technology. Even more distressing, once a consumer’s prepaid balance is exhausted, power supply is terminated instantly, leaving families in the dark without warning or redress.
What was intended as a reform has, for many, become a source of anxiety. The elderly, patients dependent on home-based medical devices, and students preparing for crucial exams are particularly vulnerable. In rural and underserved areas, where digital literacy remains low, people lack both awareness and infrastructure to manage these new systems effectively. What the government promotes as a step toward digitization is widely perceived as a forced imposition, devoid of transparency or compassion.
Equally troubling is the absence of public consultation. Residents were neither asked if they were ready for such a transition nor adequately informed about the changes. Local panchayats and urban bodies were sidelined from the planning and implementation process. The entire exercise feels autocratic, driven more by targets and timelines than by the lived realities of the people it aims to serve.
Then there’s the financial burden. Crores of rupees are being spent on procuring and installing smart meters—funds that could instead have been invested in upgrading transformers, strengthening transmission lines, and stabilizing supply infrastructure. Addressing these root issues would have yielded far more tangible and lasting results.
Ultimately, smart meters without smart power are little more than cosmetic reform. Before pursuing numbers and optics, the government must prioritize restoring public trust by delivering consistent, quality electricity. The people of Jammu and Kashmir deserve more than just a digital tool; they deserve real, dependable power.
