The ruling alliance partner, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has suggested the pruning of power subsidy granted to the “big” farmers across Punjab.
The party has clarified that it wanted the small farmers to grow by taking full benefits of the power subsidy granted by the Punjab Government to agriculturalists regardless of the financial standings.
“looking at the State’s poor fiscal health, we should revisit the power subsidy scheme…It would be better if the subsidy be extended to the small and marginal farmers while the big farmers be excluded from the scheme,” said Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma.
The move is a part of the SAD-BJP Government’s plans to cut down on the wasteful expenditure. Already, the Government has initiated the e-trip system to mop up the additional revenue of approximately Rs250 crores annually.
He maintained that even as the decision to provide free power to the farmers in the state was unanimous of the SAD-BJP combine, considering weak financial health of the state, it would be better to review the scheme.
The suggestion is likely to be opposed by the Shiromani Akali Dal as the party has a strong base in the rural Punjab, and the suggestion comes just about a year before the parliamentary polls.
Power subsidy to the farmers has remained a topic of debate in Punjab and had even run into criticism on the allegations of being a populist measure.
SAD, on the other hand, has been defending its decision to provide free power to the farmers on the ground that the agriculturists in the State are already debt-ridden and would suffer huge setback if the subsidy was taken back.
Notwithstanding, the SAD-BJP Government may be wooing a major vote bank — including the farming community, scheduled castes, below poverty line — in Punjab by providing them free power, but the power subsidy is financially ruining the State.
As per the arrangement, the State Government is committed to pay for the free power given to nothing less than 11 lakh agriculture pumpsets (AP) consumers, upto 200 units to five lakh BPl families, and 18 lakh SC families in the State.
In addition, the Government has to pay power subsidy in advance in 12 monthly installments.
As of now, the Punjab Government is doling out the subsidies to the tune of Rs5607.42 crores in total. With a major share, the AP consumers is getting whooping Rs4778.13 crores as free power supply for the current fiscal.
In addition, State Government also pay power subsidy for supplying free power up to 200 units per month to SC domestic consumers and non-SC BPl domestic consumers — adding upto Rs829.29 crore.
In the current financial year, Punjab Government is expected to pay around Rs5,800 crore towards the power subsidy.
Of late, the State Government was to pay more than Rs700 crore to the State power utility as an “unpaid power subsidy” pending since 2011.
This is not the only decision of the combine which the BJP want to reconsider. Only recently, the BJP has asked the State Government to review the high regularisation fees to regularise the unauthorised colonies, besides the implementation of the e-Trip system.
Only a day before, Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Badal made it clear that all Government decisions including implementing e-trip, and regularisation of colonies, are “collective” decision of council of ministers.
Responding, Sharma maintained that there was nothing wrong in reviewing one’s decisions. “There is nothing wring in reconsidering the State Government’s decisions which are not going down well with the people of the state,” he added.