The Hindu Business Line : AP committed to free power to farmers: CM

THE Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, has said that provision of free power to the agricultural sector was not an "election sop" and that his Government is committed to supplying free power to farmers till farming becomes a viable occupation.

Inaugurating a workshop on `Power Supply to Agricultural Sector' on Wednesday, the Chief Minister asked energy experts taking part in the event to explore sustaining of free power supply to the farm sector.

The one-day workshop was organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Power.

According to a study, the State Government was subsidising even the farmers enjoying assured water supply facilities under various irrigation projects to the extent of Rs 4,366 crore per annum.

Dr Reddy said that Andhra Pradesh was different from other States with regard to irrigation of agricultural lands.

"The farmers here have to depend on borewells for cultivation, as the State is not endowed with adequate surface water systems."

As a result, there are 23.5 lakh agricultural pumpsets in the State compared to eight lakh in UP, five lakh in Punjab, four lakh in Haryana and one lakh in West Bengal.

Though AP is among the five largest foodgrain producing States in the country, the per capita production is the lowest compared to the four other States.

In this context, the Government would constitute an Agriculture Technology Mission under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister.

The mission's endeavour would be, apart from other aspects, to enhance the productivity of various crops so as to increase the income of farmers.

As the State Government would be six months old in a few days, there would be a mid-course review of various decisions taken by it so far.

The Chief Minister, who had spent about three hours at the workshop listening to the presentations made by experts, expressed the hope that the State's dependence on groundwater would decline significantly in five years as his Government was determined to complete all pending irrigation projects.

Mr R.V. Shahi, Secretary, Ministry of Power, also wanted the workshop to explore the aspects of pricing of power keeping in view the paying capacity of the poor.

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