Farmers protest poor power supply
Saturday, 20/06/2015
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GURDASPUR: Members of the district unit of the Kisan Sangharsh Committee (KSC), staged a dharna outside the office of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), claiming that they were not getting power supply for the promised 8-hour duration.
KSC district leader Bakhshish Singh alleged that state government had been fabricating figures to show that the PSPCL was running into a loss and using this to deny farmers their due.
“Under the guise of economic reforms, the Centre and the states were weakening state institutions and utilites,” he claimed, adding that power supply was being given to farmers for only six hours a day.
The protesters also demanded that ‘Basmati’ crop should be procured by agencies at the rate of `5, 000 per quintal for the ‘Desi Basmati’, `4,500 for the 1121 variety and `4, 000 for the 1509 variety.
“We need a minimum of 16-hour power supply during the paddy sowing season and demanded that 200 units of power per billing cycle be given free to farmers,” a protester demanded.
