Uttar Pradesh government waives farmers’ power bills for private tube wells

According to Sharma, on average, 8 to 10 farmers benefit from one tube well in terms of irrigating their fields, thus the total number of beneficiaries of the scheme will reach about 1.5 crore in Uttar Pradesh.

LUCKNOW: In what comes as a Holi gift for 15 lakh farmers of the state, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Tuesday a waiver of electricity bills for private tube wells of the farmers, effective from April 1, 2023.

There are about 14.73 lakh private tube wells in the rural areas and 5,188 in urban areas of the state (Sourced)

Clearing a long-pending proposal in the Cabinet meeting, the government allocated ₹1,800 crore in the 2024-2025 budget for the implementation of the scheme.

Furthermore, the government has proposed a scheme aimed at assisting farmers with outstanding electricity bills predating April 1, 2023, to settle their bills without accruing interest and offering them convenient installment options.

Sharing this information with mediapersons, energy minister AK Sharma said that with this announcement, the government had kept its promise of providing 100 per cent exemption from power tariffs to the farmers owning private tube wells in the state.

“There are about 14.73 lakh private tube wells in the rural areas and 5,188 in urban areas of the state. During our tenure, we have converted about 200 Gram Panchayats into Nagar Gram Panchayats, eliminating the difference between the two. As such, a total of 14.78 lakh tube wells will benefit from the decision of the Cabinet,” he pointed out.

According to Sharma, on average, 8 to 10 farmers benefit from one tube well in terms of irrigating their fields, thus the total number of beneficiaries of the scheme will reach about 1.5 crore in Uttar Pradesh.

“If we consider an average family size of five members per farmer, approximately 6-7 crore individuals stand to benefit from this scheme. For outstanding dues predating this date, we are devising an interest-free scheme, which will be rolled out soon,” he said.

Farmers, it may be pointed out, had already been getting 50% rebate since the government order weeks before assembly elections 2022. The government in the Budget 2023 announced 100% rebate but the follow up orders for the same were not issued even as a large number of farmers stopped paying bills in anticipation.