Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday directed the PSPCl to immediately do away with the condition of seeking test report from the eligible legal heir of a deceased for the transfer of tubewell connections in their name free of cost even without charging Advance Consumption Deposits (ACD).
The decision was taken by Chief Minister in a meeting with the delegation of Bharti Kisan Union (Sidhupur) led by its president Pishora Singh Sidhu at his official residence.
Badal asked the PSPCl authorities to follow the same procedure, prevalent earlier, for the transfer of connections in the name of legal heir of the deceased on the basis of succession certificate duly attested by the Nambardar or the Sarpanch of the village.
He also reiterated that special camps should be organised on campaign basis for transferring tube well connections in the name of bonafide legal heirs on the priority basis in all the villages across the State.
Responding to another demand regarding the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) to slash the rate from Rs4,500 to Rs1,000 per BHP for enhancing the load capacity of the motors in view of depleting water table, Badal asked the PSPCl chairman to take up the issue with the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission for its timely resolution.
To another demand for ensuring uninterrupted power supply for 12 hours duration during the ensuing paddy and cotton season, he said that all out efforts should be made to provide adequate power supply to the farmers during these operations.
Referring to another demand raised by the delegation regarding the allotment of tube well connections to the applicants whose applications were pending since long, Badal said that the State Government had already framed a new tube well policy for the year
2013-14 to release 25,000 tube well connections in a fair and transparent manner on the basis of seniority.
On the issue of restoring the facility of Own Your Tube-well (OYT) connection to the farmers for shifting tube well connection from one site to another, Badal asked the PSPCl to only charge the actual cost of the material and supervisory charges from the consumers in such cases.
Badal also constituted a committee with a representative each from the PSPCl, PAU and Bharti Kisan Union (Sidhupur) for exploring possibilities to enhance the power consumption of motors from 1.5 to 2.5 amperes per BHP as these motors were taking extra load due to the depleting water table.
He also okayed the demand of delegation to cover all deras or dhanis having three or more households under urban pattern power supply for 24 hours as already decided in the case of difficult areas of Border or Kandi.
He asked PSPCl to submit a comprehensive proposal in this regard to the state government at the earliest. Badal also directed PSPCl chairman to supply electricity bills to the domestic consumers on monthly basis within next six months in villages. This move would save the farmers from undue harassment for making payment of their bills through Banks drafts or cheques in case the bill amount was over Rs5,000.
In another significant decision, Badal directed the Director General of Police and Principal Secretary Industries to allow the farmers for mining of the earth (Mitti) from their fields for personal or domestic use as now they were unduly harassed by the Police under the pretext of mining provisions. He asked the DGP to issue instructions to all the SSPs in the State for its strict compliance.