State government issuing farmers incorrect power bills

An RTI reply by the state government-owned power distribution company has shown discrepancies in figures for electricity used for agricultural purposes and the bills that were issued. They show that the power supply for agriculture consumption to feeders in 2014-15 is 9,336 million units (mu) while billing of the electricity was made for 11,492 mu. Agriculture activists have slammed the government for sending these incorrect bills to farmers by manipulating the figures.

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has given reply to the RTI query that was filed by Pratap Hogade, convenor of Veej Grahak Sanghatana, for 3,353 feeders the power was supplied for in the year 2014-15. The reply said, “Power input to feeders 9,336 mu and agriculture sales total (the figure used for billing) is 11,492 mu.”

While speaking with The Asian Age, energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule admitted the discrepancy in the information. “It is true that the electricity provided was less and the billing was done for more power consumed. But the error could be due to unmetered agriculture pumps. The state still has large number of agriculture pumps that run on HP (horse power). We have undertaken an ambitious task to install meters to agriculture pumps so that it can be charged properly,” Mr Bawankule said. The state has only 40 lakh agriculture pumps of which only two lakh are metered.

The minister also blamed farmers who had not paid Rs 12,000 crore so far to the government. “The expected expenditure for installing the meters to the pumps is Rs 1,500 crore. But the farmers are yet to pay Rs 12,000 crore to the government against their electricity bills,” the minister said.

Mr Hogade however, said that the government should rectify the mistake and send correct bills to the farmers. “The agricultural billing will not go beyond Rs 3,000 crore if done correctly,” he said.

NCP MLA and agriculture expert Shankaranna Dhondge lashed out at the government for ‘manipulating’ the bills. “The government always shows that a great amount of electricity was consumed by the farmers when last three years there was drought in the state. The farmers do not pay bills because the government sends wrong bills to them. This has become a vicious cycle — the government sends exorbitant bills, which farmers are unable to pay and then it cries foul over dues,” Mr Dhondge said.