Free power to farmers will stay, asserts Jagadish

Hyderabad: Energy minister G. Jagadish Reddy asserted on Tuesday that the BRS government was committed to providing 24-hour free power to farmers, while accusing the Narendra Modi-led BJP government of creating obstacles for the state government.

The minister stated that in the name of power reforms the Centre was trying to install electricity meters on agricultural borewells, a charge that was denied by the BJP leaders in the past. He said the state government would oppose the BJP government's plan, noting that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had made it clear that accepting the Centre's planned electricity reforms, which aimed to privatise the power sector, was out of the question.

The minister said the BJP government was attempting to impose an arbitrary rule by demanding that the state government pay discoms before providing subsidy power supply to the people. "Such rules were being pushed by the BJP government in an effort to privatise the power sector.”