ONGOLE: The Andhra Pradesh Central Power Distribution Company Limited (APCPDCL)’s move to convince farmers to install meters to pump-set connections in Prakasam district has run into rough weather with the farming community refusing to yield to their request.
The farmers suspect that the move to fix meters is part of a government ploy to deny them free power and other benefits. The district has around 1.87 lakh connections. The State government decided to fix the electricity consumption meters to motors as part of its power reforms, stating that the objective was for a precise assessment of power utilisation.
Several farmers, apprehensive of losing the now-available benefits, refused to share their Aadhaar and other details to the electricity department officials. Officials, however, got the Aadhaar and e-KYC details of 1.57 lakh connections and 1.19 lakh farmers’ bank accounts details for the ‘Cash Transfer’ scheme with the help of e-Crop portal and other sources.
“We know what had happened to the government’s cooking gas subsidy-cash transfer promise and its present status. Now, the State government is trying to cheat the farmers by saying that the meters are meant to gauge the exact power consumption by the agriculture sector as well as to address voltage fluctuations and transmission losses, and to deposit cash under the money transfer scheme of free power supply. We won’t believe these cock-and-bull stories,” Pamdi Venkat Rao, district secretary of Jilla Rythu Sangham (JRS), said.
He further said that JRS would not hesitate to launch an agitation if the government adopts aggressive attitude and forces them to give their details for cash-transfer scheme for free power.P Venakteswarlu, a farmer from Ongole rural, said, “Recently electricity department staff asked for my Aadhaar and other details to fix meter to our agriculture water motor connection. We refused to give them the details.”
On Thursday, villagers of Ponduru in Ongole rural mandal stopped APCPDCL officials, who went there to collect the Aadhaar and e-KYC details. “We don’t want meters attached to our water motors and we won’t sign any papers. We are sure that the government is planning to stop the free power to agriculture sector” P Srinivasu, Singaiah and Balaram — farmers in Ponduru village said.APCPDCL (Ongole Circle) officials have been trying to convince farmers to give their consent for fixing electricity consumption meters to their water pump sets.
“We are trying our level best to allay their fears by explaining the facts. We have already installed electricity meters in a village on an experimental basis and the results were analysed by a Bengaluru-based lab. As many as 44,447 Debit Mandate Forms have been collected from the farmers, which shows their willingness for fixing the meters,” KVG Satyanarayana, Superintending Engineer (SE) APCPDCL - Ongole Circle, said.