The National Scheduled Castes Alliance (NSCA) on Sunday urged the Punjab government that the loan burden over the agriculture labourers should be waived off immediately. NSCA also urged the government to bring in public the findings of the committee formed in the Punjab Assembly over issues of the farmers and agriculture labourers. NSCA welcomed state’s move to install electricity meters on agriculture land to monitor electricity usage and to give away subsidy through direct benefit transfer.
NSCA president Paramjit Singh Kainth said free electricity to the rich landlord farmers should be immediately terminated. According to a survey by Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), 13.50 Lakh of tubewell connections of the farmers are being given free electricity. Out of this, 6.6 per cent (89,212) farmers have less than 2.5 acres of land and 11.88 pc(1,60,581) farmers have less than 5 acres of land.
Kainth also added that most of the farmers who indulge in suicide or attempt to suicide are those who have less than five acres of land. Many of the big, rich leaders of the State and socio-religious personalities are utilising this loophole and enjoying the free electricity through their tube well connections on their vast lands, he added.
Recently, the struggling position of the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. in economic context, CM Amr-inder Singh had appealed to the big farmers to leave the free electricity on their own retrospection but nothing has changed. According to the survey, over Rs 4,000 crore are being spent from the government’s budget every year for the big farmers with more than 10 acres of land.
Kainth alleged many leaders of the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party are exploiting the free electricity which is meant for small poor farmers.