Plan panel opposes user charges for farmers

A day after the pro-reformist Telugu Desam Party government received a drubbing in the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections, the Planning Commission on Wednesday cast doubts over levying user charges for providing key inputs to rural farmers.

"If we charge the rural farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed irrigation, for power and fertilsers, their livelihood would be snatched," Surya P Sethi, advisor (energy), Planning Commission, said at a seminar on power in New Delhi.

Sethi observed that despite all the talk of providing power to rural areas, a vast portion of the rural farmers had no means to pay. He said that on an average a farmer's livelihood stood at Rs 2,500-3,000 per annum which would not suffice for making electricity and fertiliser payments.

Sethi raised doubts over claims made by the government on rural electrification stating that as much as 50-60 per cent of the population did not have access to power.

He said subsidies were not reaching the deserving lot and suggested some "hard nose" analysis of the legislative provisions needed to promote rural electrification.

Sethi was critical of arguments which showed that if portions of rural populace could pay for gas they could also pay for power arguing that only 18 per cent of urban populace had access to cooking gas.

"We are living in a world of slogans...the reality is far from it and we need to address real issues," he added.

The statement comes as the Chandrababu Naidu government, once showcased as a model government by international agencies for its bold reforms, was voted out of power in Andhra Pradesh.