Power Politics

Cheap Power to Farmer - A Real Sham 
My open letter to Odisha Finance Minister 


Dear Sri Prafulla Chandra Ghadei, Hon'ble finance Minister of Odisha. 

Pranam !

Resepected Sir,

Newspapers and media have reported that in a workshop held yesterday you made an indication that the state government is mulling to provide power for irrigation at a 'cheaper rate'. Being a farmer and some what dependent on electricity to save my crops, I should have been jumping in joy. Sadly, that has not happened. There are two reasons for this:

1. Farmers need quality power more than free power: Prolonged and frequent disruptions have become menacingly common. Often it happens that you press the green switch to start the pump but find out that the power supply has again snapped soon after. A simple fault in a feeder line requires days to be attended. After receiving a complaint, the concerned line attendant will come to the section office at 10 am, cut off power supply to the entire feeder from the grid itself (meaning no power for the entire greed supplied area), will check for faults and will return to the section in the afternoon or evening. If the lineman succeeds in finding out and rectifying the fault then the power supply will resume through that feeder in the evening. But that happens only if the consumers are lucky. Even a small fuse related problem takes days to be attended. And if something goes wrong with the transformers or supply lines, take it granted that the fault will not be rectified before the crop is destroyed. Even when there is some kind of power supply, more often than not, the voltage is far too low. Which not only reduces pumping capacity but also results in a severely curtailed life span of the pump set. 

2. It is a brazen violation of BJD's own manifesto, which assured the citizens that it will provide free power for irrigation
Your party BJD's manifesto - for the 2009 general election to the state Assembly - had given a clear and unambiguous assurance to give "Free Power to Agriculture Sector"(Source: http://www.bijujanatadal.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72:bjd-election-manifesto-09&catid=3:newsflash&Itemid=72). Agriculture is a very broad sector. Irrigation is only a part of that. By indicating that your government will soon provide cheaper power (not free power) to the irrigation sector (not the whole agriculture sector), we believe that you are making a mockery of your own poll promises. 

Hence, your indications of a cheaper power supply rate do not enthuse any interest in a genuine farmer. Rather, it only gives scope for proponents of privatisation and liberalisation that government has again become 'populist' by 'subsidising' tax payer's money on a sector which is 'failing to fuel' GDP.   

I appreciate your and the government's concern towards the farmer. But your indication of providing power at cheaper rate for irrigation is like adding insult to the farmer's injuries. We rather look forward to quality power. If quality power comes to farmers at a cheaper price or at free of cost then that is a bonus. I hope I have been able to make my points clear.