Hyderabad, May 29 (Maxim News): K. Kavitha strongly opposed the proposed Telangana farmer DISCOM during a public hearing held by the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
She alleged that the state government was acting against farmers through the new electricity distribution proposal. She urged the ERC to reject the plan immediately.
Kavitha said the proposal could damage Telangana’s agriculture sector. She also warned that it could weaken the free electricity scheme for farmers.
She demanded public hearings in all 33 districts of Telangana before any final decision.
Kavitha Alleges Threat to Agriculture and Free Power
Kavitha questioned why the government allegedly kept the proposal secret for months. She said the issue became public only because of the ERC process.
She claimed the Telangana farmer DISCOM proposal was “like poisoning agriculture.” According to her, the proposal could affect nearly 29 lakh agricultural borewells across the state.
The BRS leader credited the previous K. Chandrashekar Rao government for improving the power sector after Telangana formation.
She said the earlier government invested heavily in electricity infrastructure. As a result, farmers received 24 hour free power supply.
Kavitha stated that better power supply helped Telangana farmers increase paddy production. She said borewell irrigation also played a major role in boosting agriculture.
Concerns Over Meters and Privatisation
Kavitha alleged that the government was preparing to install electricity meters for agricultural motors. She claimed the state was accepting conditions linked to central power reforms.
She also alleged that the proposal could lead to privatisation of one DISCOM in the future.
According to Kavitha, the proposed farmer DISCOM would handle nearly 42 percent of Telangana’s total electricity load.
She questioned how the new company could become profitable when existing DISCOMs were already facing heavy financial losses.
Kavitha said existing DISCOM losses touched nearly Rs 69,000 crore. She added that the government itself still owed around Rs 54,000 crore to DISCOMs.
She argued that DISCOM ratings would improve if the government cleared pending dues on time.
Demand for Pilot Project
Kavitha demanded a pilot project before implementing the proposal across Telangana.
She said earlier energy audit schemes did not succeed. Therefore, she warned against introducing large scale reforms without proper assessment.
The BRS leader also raised concerns over employee allocation. She said only around 2,000 workers would shift from nearly 45,000 DISCOM employees.
According to her, only about 1,000 field staff would remain available for transformer repairs. She warned that farmers could face delays during emergencies.
Kavitha also demanded an all party meeting and Assembly discussion on the Telangana farmer DISCOM proposal.
Referring to the 1999 firing incident linked to farmers’ protests in undivided Andhra Pradesh, she warned the government not to create similar conditions again.
She said BRS leaders would directly meet farmers if the proposal receives approval. She added that the party would explain the alleged risks linked to the new agricultural power reforms. (Maxim News)
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