Making an indirect reference to chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy who holds the energy portfolio, health minister DL Ravindra Reddy on Sunday slammed the state government for its complete failure in managing the power crisis in the state.
Speaking to mediapersons at Kazipeta mandal headquarters after inaugurating an e-seva centre on Sunday, he said that the state had never seen this kind of electricity crisis in the last 50 years.
As the state government had failed to announce power cuts prior to agriculture operations, he said farmers in the state had gone ahead with normal acreage.
But against the announced ‘seven-hour power supply’ to the farming sector, they were only able to supply power for three to four hours, which was driving farmers to commit suicides, he lamented.
“The government’s failure clearly explains that they have no alternative mechanism to handle electricity shortage, if the state experiences less than normal rainfall this year.
The officials have utterly failed to supply power for at least an hour continuously to my own agricultural fields despite my request,” he alleged and expressed his anguish over the power crisis during the cabinet meeting held in Hyderabad, a couple of days ago.
The state government had failed in every aspect of governance, he observed.
Any government must have an alternative mechanism to face the situation, he said.
Ravindra Reddy further confessed that the present government has no such alternative at its disposal.
Taking the example of delay in issuing a ration card to a poor man named Lakshmaiah of Sunkeshula village, Reddy said that despite being recommended by him, Lakshmaiah received his ration card two years after applying for the card.
“I am not against implementation of any welfare scheme. The only thing I am asking of the state government is to work properly and ensure that these schemes reach those it is intended for in proper time,” he maintained.