Farmers protest plan to hike power tariff

Hundreds of farmers from Ahmedabad district took part in a protest rally on Friday to oppose the government's proposal to hike electricity tariffs from next month. They disrupted traffic and the city police had to arrest a few agitators.

Thousands of farmers in other parts of Gujarat, under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), also took out similar rallies across the state.

Farmers from Bareja, Chilola, Dhabhoi, Mansa, Degham were prevented by the police from joining the agitation at Ahmedabad, a BKS official said.

"The electricity tariff is already very high for farmers in the state. The current price for electricity is Rs 500 per horse power and this will shoot up to Rs 900 after the hike in tariffs," said Jeevan Patel, general secretary of BKS.

"BKS members have been holding talks with the state government on the tariff-hike issue for the past four months. The state government agreed to lower the price from Rs 1200 to Rs 900. But, it is not ready for further negotiations," said Patel.

"There are 18,215 villages in Gujarat where only six to eight hours of electricity is provided. Moreover, the timing for the supply is irregular.

"We are asking the government to bring the prices of electricity to original levels (Rs 500) and provide 16 hours of electricity to all villages," said he.

"With just six hours of electricity being provided in villages, it is becoming very difficult for the farmers. Instead of helping the farmers by providing uninterrupted power supply, the state government is working against them by hiking power tariffs," said Ishwar Patel, member of BKS from Pirana in Daskroi taluka.

"The government was not been fair to the farmers regarding the hike in prices for electricity. The interrupted power supply is also a big hindrance. The farmers have thus decided to go for an agitation. Many of them have also courted arrest. The police force has also been co-operative with the farmers," said Baba Patel, pradesh treasurer of BKS.

"There are 178 different issues for the farmers to take up with the government. This agitation is mainly to oppose the hike in electricity tariffs and to seek an increase in hours of electricity supply in villages. There are 24 lakh members in BKS in Gujarat," said Kanu Patel, spokesman of BKS.

"The hike in prices will be a big blow to farmers in the state. We are also demanding similar rates all over Gujarat, as certain districts like Surat have the benefit of canals and the impact of the hike in prices will be much less for them," said Chandu Patel, member of BKS from Detrut near Viramgam.

"The members of the BKS will not favour the Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections in 2004 if the hike in prices is not controlled by the government," said an angry Chandrakant Karsan, a member of BKS.