VIJAYAWADA: Energy Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy has asserted that smart meters for agriculture power connections are beneficial to farmers as the move will not only make the Discoms more responsible and accountable, but also provide farmers the right to question the service providers in case of any lapse.
Addressing mediapersons in Tirupati on Tuesday, the Energy Minister said a pilot project of installing smart meters for agriculture power connections was successfully implemented in Srikakulam district. “The results are encouraging. We are able to save 30 to 33% of power, which otherwise goes unaccounted or pilfered,” he explained.
After the successful implementation of the pilot project, the farmers are happy with the smart meters as they understood the benefits, which include supply of quality power without any voltage fluctuations for nine hours during the daytime. About 95% of the total 18.88 lakh beneficiaries opened bank accounts to enable the government credit the free power subsidy through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), which will be remitted to the Discoms towards power bill. “Buoyed by the success of the pilot project, it has been decided to instal smart meters for all agriculture power connections in the State by March next year,” Peddireddy announced.
Taking serious exception to reports in a section of the media pertaining to irregularities in installing smart meters, the Energy Minister said they were aimed at defaming the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. “The reports that each smart meter costs Rs 35,000 and the government needs to spend a whopping Rs 6,173 crore to implement the project are completely baseless. The smart meter costs Rs 6,000 and the total project is estimated to cost Rs 1,150 crore. The tender documents are currently being previewed by the Judicial Commission and once it gives its approval, tenders will be invited,” he specified.
He dared the media houses, which are reporting such gross misinformation and the Opposition Telugu Desam, which is supporting them, to file tender bids and the lowest bidder will be given the project. He advised TDP to refrain from spreading such malicious propaganda to create confusion among farmers. It will do more harm than any good to the agriculture community, he remarked.
Unlike the previous TDP regime when there were complaints galore against the inaction of APTransco offices in case of any disruption in power supply to agriculture connections due to technical issues, burnt transformers are being replaced within 48 hours in villages to ensure supply of quality power. All the three Discoms in the State have adequate stock of transforms for the purpose of replacement, he averred.
“There is not an iota of truth in the TDP propaganda that smart meters will lead to the downfall of farmers. It should be noted that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government is pro-farmer. Nowhere in the country, a plethora of schemes are being implemented for the welfare of farmers like in Andhra Pradesh. Several States and some foreign countries have hailed the innovative schemes launched by the YSRC government for the economic uplift of small and medium farmers,” he maintained.Unlike TDP, which is anti-farmer always, Peddireddy said Jagan has given top priority to agriculture development and farmer welfare.