Members of the Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sanghala Samanvaya Samithi, which comprised several farmers’ associations, staged a protest in front of the CPDCL office, near PWD grounds, here on Wednesday, demanding that the State government continue the supply of free power to agriculture pumpsets in the State.
The samithi leaders, who included Y. Kesava Rao, P. Jamalaiah, Gundapaneni Prasad, and Ulligadda Nageswara Rao, addressed the gathering before submitting a memorandum to the officials at the CPDCL Superintending Engineer’s office.
They said the government had issued G.O. 22, paving the way for fixing meters to agriculture pumpsets. The government was trying to convince the farmers that the free power would be continued for another 30 years.
“But, in reality, the government has no such intention. People have seen what had happened to the subsidies on LPG. The farmers are already reeling under losses as there are no remunerative prices for their produce. A few have committed suicide unable to clear the debts. At this juncture, it is not correct to burden the farmers by fixing meters,” they said.
Demanding that the government withdraw the G.O. immediately, the samithi leaders said they had decided to stage protests at the CMD offices in Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Vijayawada on August 25.
