Why Haryana farmers say they don’t need free power

It’s noon and there has been no power for over five hours now. There was no power all day long the previous day or the day before that. Pandit is ferrying a diesel engine on his bullock cart to the fields where he’s sowing wheat. Most farmers here don’t rely on the power supply. Not in the adjoining districts of Rohtak and Sonepat either. Instead, they bank on diesel, despite the fact that the cost of drawing water from the ground using a diesel-operated pump is nearly Rs 150 per day. That’s over 10 litres in less than eight hours to irrigate one to two acres, depending on the water table.

On the other hand, the cost ofoperating pumps on electricity is anything between Rs 3 to a little over Rs 10 per day. “We get a fixed bill of Rs 350 per month, whatever amount we might use,” says Jai Bhagwan, a farmer in Khedria in Sonepat. This, sources in the government point out, is because 70 per cent connections are unmetered and farmers are charged on a monthly basis. For metered connections, a 750 watt pump running for eight hours, costs only Rs 3.

“For one week, we get electricity from 7 am to 4 pm, after which there is no power all through the night. The next week, they supply it only from 8 pm to 5 am,” says Deepinder Joon, 26, of village Noona Majra in the Bahadurgarh area. “I grew up seeing things go from bad to worse. Though things had improved a few months ago and we began getting power for almost up to 20 hours a day, we seem to be heading back for dark days and nights,” he says. He laughs at the CM’s offer to supply free power for agriculture — “Peese de ke to katem aati ni (We don’t get power even when wepay for it),” he remarks. The others echo his thought. “Ye baalak paani dhoyenge, padaange thodi (If these boys have to fetch water all day, can they study!),” says a village elder pointing to a group of boys carrying drumfuls of water to the fields.

“There aren’t very many tubewells run on electricity here,” says village deputy headman Karan Singh. “We saw power cuts go down to one to two hours during the elections. Now the voltage is so low that the bulbs light up like small candles and power cuts have started again,” he adds.

In Sunderpur village on the Jind Road from Rohtak, power cuts have gone down in the past week or so to four hours. This, villagers say, is a better state of affairs. “But, we know it won’t be like this for long. Once, the Vidhan Sabha elections are over, things will be the same,” says a villager. The situation in certain villages of the Sonepat district too has been better for the last fortnight or so. “From the third week of November, the power cuts have comedown. Earlier the power cuts were 10 to 12 hours long, now it has reduced a bit,” says Jai Bhagwan, happy to see, for a change, his electric pump irrigate the guava orchards in Khedria.

Experience, however, has taught Bhagwan scepticism. “Its probably due to the coming elections,” he too says. A senior official says it’s due to the 143 MW unit of National Thermal Power Corporation coming online. Jai Bhagwan’s joy though may be short-lived with the NTPC supplying power only on cash-and-carry basis. “They will cut off power if their dues are not paid,” the official adds.

Bijender Singh, who owns 30 acres in Bahlaut village, says he applied for an electricity connection about seven years ago. “They are not supplying power and not giving connections either. Instead, I have had to invest in four diesel engines costing Rs 14,000 each,” Singh says.

In the next village, Kaloi Khas, Ranbir Singh Hooda, 54, will have to shell out more money per acre for the diesel. He does not own a diesel engine and thecost of hiring one is between Rs 40 to Rs 50 for every hour. Villagers say the power supply here ranges from five to six hours every day.

Officials say they are trying to improve things but remain non-committal about a deadline to set things right. “I took charge in November and since then we have been trying to improve the supply of power,” says Haryana Power Secretary Meenaxi Anand Chaudhary. On the failure of the government to provide connections to a large number of farmers, she says the present government’s policy is different. “We want to provide more connections to the farmers. For that, we have already written to the Rural Electrification Commission for help,” says Chaudhary.

Meanwhile, the farmers continue to suffer. Rajinder Singh Dahiya, political science teacher in the Bidhlan village school, who also owns six acres, sums up the farmers’ sentiment.

“Punjab government is failing because of free power. How can the government possibly give free power here? On the other hand, people areready to pay and they don’t even get connections. You have to provide your own poles for drawing electricity,” he says. “He should instead promise less power cuts first,” a colleague adds.