Karnataka struggles to fulfill 200-unit free power promise amid Gruha Jyoti scheme
Even as unrest grows among the farming community in Karnataka, the Congress party is sidetracking the issue, while its counterpart in Telangana is promising heaven and moon to the farmers.
Updated On - 18 August 2023, 09:47 PM
Hyderabad: Karnataka is fumbling. After making a poll promise of supplying 200 units of power free under Gruha Jyoti scheme to every household in Karnataka, the Congress government is now finding it difficult to implement its promise. Not just that, the government is drawing flak from farm sector not just over linking of pump sets with Aadhaar numbers, but also in respect of the increasing demand for quality power supply 24X7 to farm sector.
Even as unrest grows among the farming community in Karnataka, the Congress party is sidetracking the issue, while its counterpart in Telangana is promising heaven and moon to the farmers. “It is indeed funny to see Telangana Congress leaders promising everything under the sun in view of the fast approaching elections, while their counterparts in the neighboring state turn a nelson’s eye towards the suffering of farmers”, said a BRS leader in Telangana.
To come to power, the Congress leadership made several promises in Karnataka, including 200 units of free power to every household in the State and now after registering a landslide victory, the party government is facing a herculean task to implement the promises.
Although Karnataka was claiming to be a power surplus State and also emerging as the top ranker in renewable energy sector, it is still unable to provide an uninterrupted power supply to its people. Whereas, the newly formed State Telangana, which was a power deficit at the time of formation, managed to not only overcome the crisis but also became a power surplus State. Today it is providing round-the-clock uninterrupted power to all its consumers, besides free power to the agriculture sector.
With 70 per cent of Karnataka’s population dependent on agriculture and 70 per cent of the State’s cultivable land dependent on low and erratic rainfall, power supply for irrigation is crucial for the farmers. However, the farmers are not getting sufficient power to take up agricultural activities. They get a 6 to 8 hours of power supply on an average. The irregularity in supply of electricity makes it further difficult for the farmers to irrigate their farms as they always have to be alert.
On the other hand, the Telangana government has been supplying quality power to its farmers round-the-clock, resulting in a high yield and increase in cultivable land. In fact, the State government is spending Rs.50,000 crore as subsidy on electricity being supplied to 72.41 lakh consumers from household and agriculture sectors.
The Telangana government is covering a total of 27,48,598 agricultural power connections, and is bearing the power costs of 35,61,809 households belonging to families below the poverty line who consume 0-50 units of power a month. It is also providing benefits to 25,00,433 scheduled caste community consumers using less than 101 units of electricity a month and 2,95,114 scheduled tribe community users.
The Telangana government is also providing benefits of electricity subsidy to 6,494 poultry farm owners, 32,654 hair cutting salon owners, 65,806 laundry shop owners, and 56 Dhobi Ghats.
Besides these, the government is also supplying subsidized electricity to 5011 power looms and 39 spinning mills.
Whereas, Karnataka is reeling under frequent power cuts. Villages are experiencing long hours of power cuts, while the urban areas suffer from frequent power outages either due to faults or undeclared power cuts.
Interestingly, Telangana Congress president A Revanth Reddy has openly spoken about restricting free power supply to the farm sector to a maximum of eight hour. He claims that most farmers in Telangana did not have land-holding exceeding more than three acres, hence three hours of power supply would suffice for them, at the rate of one hour of supply per acre.
The views of Revanth Reddy has exposed the real face of the Congress, who in the disguise of pro-farmer stand, was planning to cheat the farmers of the State.