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Why pass the buck to SERC, delta farmers ask Govt.

By V. Venkatasubramanian

Nagapattinam March 11. Delta farmers are upset at the Government stand on the issue of continuance of free power supply for agriculture.

By merely asking the State Electricity Regulatory Commission to ensure continuance of free electricity, the Government has "conveniently shed its responsibility" to safeguard the interests of farmers, they said.

Already, the area under agriculture in delta districts had shrunk from more than 12 lakh hectares to 3 or 4 lakh hectares, thanks to the Cauvery dispute. Even in the reduced area, crops raised with filter-point facilities alone survived.

Moreover, power supply was needed to tap water under the `sub-surface skimming system'--to collect water in a rig well and then use it for irrigation--a technique advocated by the Government recently to tackle irrigation problems faced in rain-fed areas.

Under the circumstances, if the Government remained non-committal, it would be construed as a "betrayal of the faith reposed by the farming community", said Arupathi Kalyanam, secretary, Federation of Farmers Associations in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts.

Pointing out the observations made by the Government in its letter to the SERC about the economic condition of farmers, Mr. Kalyanam wondered then why it stopped short of announcing that the `well-considered policy' would be continued. Claiming that the gap between the cost of production of power and realisation could be reduced by procuring quality coal, reducing transmission and distribution losses, by preventing power thefts and by restricting purchase of power from private units only for peak hour consumption, he said this would also help to avoid taxing domestic consumers.

Expressing concern at the Government stand and the Electricity Board's request for a hike in tariff, the federation felt that levying charges for pumpsets would spell doom for agriculture.

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