Cong. talk against 24×7 free farm power in tune with its national policy: BRS

Cong. talk against 24×7 free farm power in tune with its national policy: BRS

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has observed that the talk against 24×7 free power to agriculture initiated by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy is a planned move in tune with the Congress national policy against the sop and silence of its national leadership on the issue is an ample proof of it.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Ministers S. Niranjan Reddy (Agriculture) and G. Jagadish Reddy (Energy) and Rythu Bandhu Samithi (RBS) Chairman P. Rajeshwar Reddy pointed out that after Mr. Revanth Reddy made the statement during his US visit, party leaders D. Anasuya alias Seethakka, A. Dayakar, and K. Sujata also spoke the same. After return from the US, Mr. Revanth Reddy too had justified his comments, they said.

Mr. Niranjan Reddy cautioned the farming community to be wary against the intention behind the debate initiated by the Congress against the 24×7 free power to agriculture. The plan behind the comments was to ration the free power supply with just an hour’s supply to farmers having landholding up to one acre, two hours for two-acre landholding, three-hour supply for three acres with a maximum eight-hour supply to agriculture, he alleged.

With the backlash against the 24×7 supply the Congress leaders were now doing a firefighting to contain the damage. In case 24×7 free power supply to farming was a policy of the Congress why was it not implementing the same in the States governed by it such as Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and others. “Chhattisgarh has surplus power generation capacity but the State has been selling it to others instead of giving uninterrupted free power to agriculture”, Mr. Jagadish Reddy said.

He disclosed that it was with the help of 24×7 free power that farmers in Telangana could raise paddy crop to the highest extent in the country during the recent rabi season. Of the 56 lakh-acre paddy cultivation, about 40 lakh acres was under bore/open wells. There were about 30 lakh agricultural connections in the State including the unofficial ones, he stated.

Ridiculing the allegation of commissions and kickbacks in energy purchases in the name of 24×7 free power to farm sector made by Mr. Revanth Reddy, the Energy Minister said the TPCC chief appeared to be lacking basic knowledge about how energy purchase system was functioning in the country.

He explained that the energy requirement indent had to be given 24 hours in advance to load despatch centres along with time slots for supply. The LDC at national level, based on demand and availability of energy, would make proportionate allocation to the State seeking supply without any role for States on picking the power producers and the rate would be decided by the exchange.