Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation has now decided to use loudspeakers installed in mosques to make announcements for the state government's new scheme which allows farmers to pay their tubewell bill in easy instalments.

The scheme called 'UP Kisan Asaan Kisht Yojana' is aimed at enabling tube well owners to pay their bills in easy instalments without interest. The power corporation wants maximum number of farmers to register for the scheme.

IANS quoted Pashchimanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited (PVVNL) officials saying, announcements will be made in all 14 districts under its jurisdiction.

The 14 districts of west UP that fall under PVVNL jurisdiction are Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Hapur, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Moradabad, Sambhal, Amroha, Rampur and Bijnor.

PVVNL managing director Arvind Mallapa Bangari, said, "It is good that loudspeakers that have caused undue tensions in the past will be put to some good use now. I feel that announcements through loudspeakers will spread the word faster and ensure maximum registration for the scheme."

Loudspeakers, installed in mosques, have often been a cause of communal dispute in western UP.

Armed with a high court order, the Yogi Adityanath government had earlier banned the use of loudspeakers at temples, mosques and other public places without permission and set January 15 as the deadline to remove the amplifiers.

After receiving flak from the Allahabad high court over noise pollution in Uttar Pradesh, the state government also issued detailed directives on the use of permanently installed loudspeakers at these places.