Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday asserted that farmers will neither be forced nor will they have to make any payment, under the Pilot Project on Direct Benefit Transfer for Electricity (DBTE) for agriculture consumers.
Underlining the importance of the project in view of the grave problem of depleting groundwater table in the State, the Chief Minister claimed that contrary to the falsehoods being spread by the Opposition, no farmers would be charged for power consumption. The direct benefit had been mooted as a solution to the worsening groundwater problem, said the Chief Minister, while announcing farm debt waiver for another 3 lakh farmers before the Budget Session, likely to be held in the first week of March.
Capt Amarinder explained that under the scheme, farmers will be paid money, in advance, directly into their bank account, from which they can pay their electricity bills. Whatever they save will go into their pockets, he said, adding the move was aimed at encouraging farmers to save groundwater by minimising its use. If the ground water crisis is not addressed on priority, Punjab would face turbulent times ahead, the Chief Minister warned, adding that the DBTE would lead to a win-win situation for both, the Government and the farmers.
The Chief Minister said under the scheme, therefore, if a farmer is consuming electricity worth Rs 50,000 in a year, he would be paid that amount directly. If he manages to save on his electricity bill through prudent consumption, the money he thus saves will go into his pocket.
The idea behind this is not to save electricity, which is surplus, but to save the precious groundwater resource, which is on the brink of annihilation, Captain Amarinder said, adding when farmers discover that the money they save is theirs, to use as they wish, they would be motivated to use electricity judiciously.
The Chief Minister also rejected charges of forcible imposition of the scheme, saying no farmer was being forced into joining the pilot project, being launched in a very limited area. The benefits of the scheme are being explained to the farmers, who were voluntarily coming forward to participate in the pilot in their own interest, he added.
The State Cabinet had approved the pilot project at its last meeting. Under the pilot project, the beneficiary farmers would be paid subsidy in cash, based on cost of power for irrigating the crops as finalised by Punjab Agriculture University, along with Agriculture and Water Resources departments. The farmers will be issued bills for electricity and allowed to retain the savings i.e. subsidy minus the bill amount.
The implementation of the DBTE scheme would help the State in promoting crop diversification, saving of precious groundwater, accurate energy accounting resulting in rationalisation of subsidy, checking Transmission & Distribution (T&D) losses, besides curbing of wasteful energy consumption. The farmers, in turn, will be benefitted through regular income by saving electricity and promoting crop diversification.
If successful, the project would be followed by randomised evaluation to measure the benefits of DBTE for agriculture consumers in terms of conservation of power and groundwater, said the spokesperson, giving details of the Cabinet decision. The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has tied up with J-PAL South Asia and the World Bank to evaluate DBTE for agriculture consumers on six feeders with 990 AP connections, according to a spokesperson of the CM’s Office.