Resentment brews against BJP over power sector selloff

Hyderabad: The power sector reforms that are being unconstitutionally pushed by the BJP government at the Centre may well prove to be the Achilles’ heel for the saffron party in the long run. There are clear indications of growing resentment in various quarters against the BJP, evident from the unrest among farmers in Srikakulam district in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and the outpouring of support for Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao after his exposure of the Centre’s Machiavellian manoeuvres to arm-twist States into submission.

Chandrashekhar Rao, in the course of his 120-minute media conference on Sunday, had laid bare the BJP government’s brazen efforts to privatize the power sector across the country that will particularly have a major impact on agriculture, the core of the rural economy. Any messing around with an already distressed farming community will have serious repercussions for the BJP which has already faced the ire of ryots in the farm laws issue, forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tender an apology.

The Andhra Pradesh government, which has taken up fixing meters on agriculture pumpsets in Srikakulam as a pilot project is already facing the heat from a fuming farming community, a quick survey by Telangana Today indicated.

Ponduru Chander Rao, a small farmer who owns two acres of land at Kesaraopeta mandal in Etcherla mandal of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh bordering Odisha, has an uncertain future ahead.

A meter installed by the officials at his farm and a bill generated for over Rs.1,500 for a period of a month sometime ago has made him seethe with anger along with other farmers in Srikakulam over the prospects of removal of free power for agriculture pumpsets.

Chander Rao is not alone. Thousands of farmers, who irrigate the dry farms in the district are on the warpath following installation of meters even without obtaining their consent. “The Damocles Sword is hanging over our heads though the government says we are not required to pay the billed amount due to the subsidy amount given by it. But who knows? Like in the case of LPG cylinders, the subsidy for us can be withdrawn anytime,” Chander Rao wonders.

As a pilot project, the YSRCP government took up installation of meters for agriculture connections in Srikakulam district following the BJP government at the Centre arm-twisting States to install meters on agriculture pumpsets if they want to avail 0.5 per additional borrowing under FRMB.

Officials of Eastern Power Distribution Company of AP Ltd (APEPDCL) said that as on January 1, 2022, meters were installed on 25,412 agriculture connections. They say they have obtained consent letters from a few hundred more farmers to install meters to achieve 100 per cent completion of the initiative.

The farmers’ organisations and the Opposition parties have been crying foul over the government’s move, who say that as part of Centre’s reforms in the power sector, the government will install meters in all the districts to get eligibility for more borrowing.

“We are totally opposed to the fund-starved government’s machinations. It is very clear that the government wants to gain by implementing power reforms so as to increase the borrowing limit under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) margins,” Konari Mohan Rao, Srikakulam district secretary of AP Rythu Sangham, said.

If the power reforms are implemented, the FRBM limit will go up from 3 to 5% to enable the State borrow an additional amount of Rs.20,000 crore to Rs.25,000 crore. “This is totally unacceptable and we will go to any extent to stall the government’s plan to install meters for all the 18 lakh-odd agricultural connections across Andhra Pradesh, ” the main Opposition Telugu Desam Party politburo member and former Minister Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy, told Telangana Today on Monday.

Lok Satta leader Rambabu said the officials are resorting to arm-twisting methods to get consent from the farmers for installation of meters. Resentment is brewing among the farmers over the issue for quite some time, he pointed out.

Panchadi Nayanababu, a Rythu Sangham leader from Visakhapatnam, after holding an awareness meeting among farmers at Anakapalle, said they have decided to spearhead an agitation to caution the ryots on the danger lurking ahead and to get prepared for a continuous struggle to stop collection of power tariff from the farmers. He said AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has said umpteen number of times the DISCOMs are incurring losses and need has come to make them viable.

Also read:

All India Power Engineers Federation hails KCR’s stand on power reforms

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