Chennai, Aug 9 (IANS) PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Sunday urged the Tamil Nadu government to immediately clear thousands of pending agricultural electricity connections, alleging that prolonged delays have pushed farmers who paid substantial deposits under the tatkal scheme into financial distress.
He said access to electricity for irrigation had become increasingly important for farmers, particularly in areas dependent on groundwater.
According to him, about 45 per cent of agricultural land in Tamil Nadu relies on groundwater, while the remaining 55 per cent depends on rivers and canals whose availability is often linked to water releases from neighbouring states. Against this backdrop, Anbumani said uninterrupted power supply for agricultural pump sets was essential to sustain cultivation.
He claimed that more than four lakh farmers across Tamil Nadu were currently waiting for free agricultural electricity connections. The PMK leader alleged that the immediate concern involved 60,120 farmers who had already deposited money under the tatkal agricultural power connection scheme but were yet to receive connections.
He accused the government and the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) of failing to honour the stipulated timeframe for providing the service.
According to Anbumani, 47,554 farmers applied under the tatkal scheme announced in December last year, paying deposits ranging from Rs 2.50 lakh to Rs 4 lakh depending on the horsepower of their agricultural pump sets. The deposits collected from these applicants exceeded Rs 1,250 crore, he said.
Another 12,566 farmers who had applied under the scheme in 2023 had deposited more than Rs 250 crore and were also awaiting electricity connections, taking the total amount collected from the two groups to around Rs 1,500 crore, he claimed.
Anbumani said TNPDCL norms required agricultural electricity connections under the scheme to be provided within 15 to 90 days after applications were submitted.
However, he alleged that none of the applicants from the latest round had received connections even eight months after making their payments. Many farmers had borrowed money at high interest rates to mobilise the deposits, believing they would receive electricity connections within the prescribed period, he said.
The delay had prevented several farmers from effectively undertaking cultivation during the Kuruvai season, leaving them burdened with mounting interest payments and debt, Anbumani alleged.
Calling the situation a serious injustice to the farming community, the PMK chief demanded that the state government intervene immediately and direct TNPDCL to expedite free agricultural electricity connections for all 60,120 pending applicants.
–IANS
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