Fixing meters will help farmers assess actual power needs: Jagan

AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Miniter YS Jaganmohan Reddy, in a review meeting held on Wednesday, asked his officials to ensure the supply of quality power for pump sets through a transparent system for the benefit of farmers. The officials had informed the Chief Minister that around 16,63,705 farmers had come forward to fix meters for agricultural pump sets.

"The farmers should be properly educated on the use of meters for agricultural pump sets by creating awareness that the meters would help assess their energy requirements," said Jagan. The utilisation of meters would also help the officials assess the requirement of energy in each season and prevent the burning of transformers and pump sets, he added.

The Chief Minister clarified that money for the consumed power would be directly deposited in the accounts of farmers to enable them to pay to the distribution companies. "This will force accountability on the part of the distribution companies which will be bound to supply power without interruptions," said Jagan.

The Chief Minister also asked the Energy Department to release the details of the pilot project implemented in the Srikakulam district which resulted in power saving and proved beneficial to the farmers. "This will help the officials to educate the farmers," said Jagan.

Referring to the pump storage projects, the Chief Minister said that the Government will pay Rs. 30,000 per acre every year for farmers who had sacrificed their lands for the Green Energy sector. "This compensation will increase by five percent every 2 years and farmers who have given assigned lands also will receive the benefit," added Jagan.