SURYAPET: Energy Minister Guntakandla Jagadish Reddy on Tuesday reiterated that no matter what kind of problems the Centre might create, the Telangana government would not stop free power supply to the farm sector.
Reacting to the Centre’s missive to the states seeking its opinion the proposal to ask the power utilities to
make pre-payment in full for the free power to be supplied to the farmers and other sections of society that get power supply on subsidy, he said there was a sinister conspiracy behind it.
He said that the Centre, on the pretext of keeping the power utilities in the pink of health, was asking the states to make upfront payment to the utilities.“The Centre wants to do away with the free power supply to the farmers,” he said.
The Minister said the Centre, which has become jealous of the State supplying power to farmers free of cost and on subsidy to some sections, was trying to thrust its policy on the states. He allayed fears of farmers saying that as long as Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was in the saddle, farmers need not worry over the likelihood of a halt to the free power supply.
The Minister contended that free power supply was being provided to the farm sector to increase productivity and thus enhance the income of farmers.“Free power supply should be seen as an incentive to the farmers to produce more,” he said and stressed that the government, come what may, would not allow the Centre to fit meters to the agriculture borewells.
‘No need to respond to Komatireddy’
Reacting to Congress MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy’s comments that there would be truck between the BRS and the Congress in the next elections, he said that there was no point in reacting to his observations. They make illogical statements forgetting which party they were in, he said.