The workers of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), along with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), on Friday held protests outside the offices of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) across the state to highlight the plight of farmers, domestic consumers, and the industry.
“All sections are suffering because the Congress Government deliberately withheld eight-hour free supply to farmers besides imposing unscheduled power cuts in urban areas and ordering twice a week closure of industries,” said the SAD while demanding an immediate financial package for paddy farmers who were forced to use diesel generators besides demanding an immediate reduction in VAT on diesel by the Congress Government.
“If these corrective measures are not taken along with restoration of regular supply of power to farmers as well as the domestic and industrial consumers, SAD would gherao the Chief Minister and Ministers in the next phase of its agitation,” declared the party, in official statement.
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal also joined the protests at Lambi, Fazilka, and Ghubaya during the course of which he held Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh solely responsible for the plight of the people.
He said that the Chief Minister has not taken a single review meeting of the power utility to ensure adequate supply of power to paddy farmers. “This is done deliberately to keep the subsidy bill down. The Congress government does not want to provide free power to farmers and this is the reason why it is not supplying power when it is needed the most,” he added.
Standing amongst parched paddy fields in Fazilka, Sukhbir said that the Government did not make any attempt to ensure timely maintenance of thermal plants which had led to the closure of the Bathinda plant as well as closedown of one unit of the Talwandi Sabo plant.
He further said that the state had enough power to meet the enhanced demands of various sectors at the crest of the peak season and the current crisis is “entirely intentional, man-made, and deliberate. It is just the Congress Government’s malicious ploy to deprive the poor, and beleaguered farmers and other poorer sections of the state of free or subsidized power, he added.
Regarding the cases registered against him for “raiding” an illegal mining site, Sukhbir said that he considered that a part of the fight for the people’s rights. “I am undaunted by such false cases. These would only strengthen my resolve to carry on fighting to safeguard the rights and interests of my people,” he said.
Former Union Minister and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who participated in dharnas at Bathinda city and Sangat Mandi, pointed how the erstwhile SAD government had spent more than Rs 4,000 crore on upgrading the transmission and distribution system.
At the same time, she took on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) saying that it had not given any practical relief to power consumers in Delhi and had only spent thousands of crores on advertisements.
SAD’S “MUFT PAKHI SEWA”
In Ropar, SAD leaders, along with the farmers, held a unique ‘Muft Pakhi Sewa’ (free distribution of hand fans) protest by distributing ‘pakhis’ (hand fans) to the citizens under the leadership of former Minister Daljit Singh Cheema.
Amidst slogans of “bijli sankat hal karo”, Cheema said that the people were forced to go back to using ‘pakhis’ with even urban areas facing cuts of as many as eight to 10 hours. He also disclosed how diesel generators, which had become a thing of the past during the erstwhile SAD-led Government, had made a comeback in the State.