Farmers associated with Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha (KPRS) staged a demonstration outside the office of Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited (GESCOM), a State-owned entity responsible for power supply in Kalyana Karnataka region, on Thursday opposing the Electricity Amendment Bill 2022 tabled in Parliament recently.
Addressing a gathering at the agitation site, Sharanabasappa Mamshetty, who is leading the protest, said that the Union government has betrayed the farmers by tabling the Bill in Parliament.
“The Union government has been trying to pass the Electricity Amendment Bill since 2014 but it could not owing to the consistent opposition from farmers. It was one of the issues of the farmers movement on the Delhi border and the government had agreed not to table the Bill during the fourth round of talks that it had with the agitating farmers. However, it betrayed the farmers by pushing it in Parliament,” Mr. Mamshetty said.
Mr. Mamshetty said that the proposed Bill will pave the way for complete privatisation of power sector and adversely impact all major sectors in the economy, especially the farm sector.
“Today’s agriculture is dependent on electricity. There are 25 lakh authorised irrigation pumpsets in the State. If you take into account the unauthorised ones, the number will cross the 40 lakh mark. The government is offering subsidies for supplying electricity to these pumpsets,” he said.
“If the electricity amendment Bill is passed in Parliament, farmers will have to pay up to ₹2 lakh for electricity. This will push the farmers who are already crisis-ridden into further crisis. The poor families in rural areas who are getting free electricity in their households under various schemes such as Bhagya Jyothi will also have to pay for electricity,” Mr. Mamshetty said.
The agitating farmers later submitted a memorandum with a list of demands to the Chief Minister through the Managing Director of GESCOM. Their demands include not installing prepaid metres for subsidised power connections under Bhagya Jyothi and irrigation pumpsets and quality power supply for irrigation pumpsets for 12 hours during the day.
Published - November 03, 2022 08:20 pm IST
