In a move to fulfill its promise of free power supply for the farm sector, the ruling YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh is considering a direct cash transfer scheme. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s advisor and Principal Secretary Ajeya Kallam on Wednesday declared that the government will provide free 9 hours of power supply through a cash transaction scheme.
The senior bureaucrat said that the money will be directly credited to the bank accounts of the farmers for the power consumed by them in their agricultural fields, and they in turn, would pay their own power bills to the DISCOMS. With this, the state government hopes that DISCOMS are not badly affected.
The state government has also urged farmers to allow the DISCOMS to set up ‘smart meters’ to their motors, to ensure that the amount of power consumed is calculated precisely.
Speaking on the advantages of ‘smart meters’, the bureaucrat said that the load on transformers can be determined with installation of such meters and sub-stations can adjust to the requirements. He said that by installing meters to motors, any problems identified in supply of electricity can be rectified. Short circuits and damages in transformers can be prevented in the future by installing smart meters, he said.
DISCOMS will bear the cost even if the meters are short circuited, damaged or stolen along with the maintenance. All unauthorised motors will be regularised, the state government assured.
Ajeya Kallam said, "The money will be credited in exclusive bank accounts which will deal only with electricity charges and there is no scope of diversion of the money by banks. The power utility companies won’t disconnect the connections if there is delay in the payment of the charges and the payment will be done regularly."
According to him, the concerns of tenant farmers have also been addressed in the scheme.
The government also said that it will hire 7,523 junior linemen for increasing the quality of electricity and strength of the field staff. The Principal Secretary, while comparing the electricity supply from 2018-19 year with 2019-20, said that there was more uninterrupted supply at present.
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised a 9-hour power supply to the farm sector in the run-up to the elections in the state last year.
Earlier this week, Energy Secretary Srikant Nagulapalli said that the scheme would be started in Srikakulam district from this month on a pilot basis.
“Monthly DBT amount for Srikakulam district will be transferred by the government to the AP Eastern Power Distribution Company against the farmers' accounts, starting from September 2020,” the Energy Secretary said.
With PTI inputs