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Ensure 8-hr power supply to farmers: CM to PSPCL
Directs the finance department to release ₹500 crore to the PSPCL to tide over the financial crunch faced amid the pandemic
Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday directed Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to ensure 8-hour uninterrupted power supply to farmers and purchase deficient power from outside the state at any cost to prevent supply disruption in the ongoing paddy sowing season.
Chairing a high-level meeting to review the power supply to farmers during the ongoing kharif season, the CM also directed the finance department to release ₹500 crore to the PSPCL to tide over the financial crunch faced amid the pandemic.
Finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who was present at the meeting, assured that his department would release these funds without delay.
Earlier, the PSPCL officials informed the meeting that the corporation was facing a severe financial crunch as a result of slowdown in consumption and revenue collection in the last one year due to the pandemic.
Reiterating his government’s commitment to providing continuous 8-hour supply to farmers in Punjab for sowing their crops, the CM directed PSPCL to purchase deficient power, if needed from outside the state at any cost, to meet the government’s commitment to the farmers. There should be no disruption of power supply to the farmers, he added.
