Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today ruled out installation of meters on agricultural tubewells and attacked Akalis for spreading "false propaganda" over the issue.
The subsidy on power in the farming sector would continue, as already promised by the government, he said in a statement issued here today.
There was no question of withdrawing the subsidy or connecting tubewells with meters, the Chief Minister said.
The chief minister had announced continuation of power subsidy for the agriculture sector in the state Assembly in June.
Amarinder lashed out at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP for allegedly misleading people with "baseless" statements with an eye on the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha by-election.
He said rumours were allegedly being spread by SAD and BJP leaders, particularly in the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency region, about installation of tubewell meters.
The chief minister said these parties were "notorious" for indulging in false advocacy to further their vested political interests.
The SAD and BJP had indulged in large-scale "rumour mongering" even during the Assembly elections but had failed to fool the people of Punjab, he pointed out.
Amarinder said his government was committed to the welfare of the farming community and had already initiated several measures, including waiver of loans, to protect the interests of the farmers.
After trying to "mislead" farmers on the issue of loan waiver, which they themselves had failed to announce during their decade-long rule in Punjab, the SAD-BJP combine was trying to spread "misapprehensions" in the minds of the farmers on other issues, such as power subsidy, he added.
Far from doing away with such subsidy, his government was, in fact, striving to rescue the beleaguered farmers, Amarinder said.
His government would ensure that the farmers are brought out of the current crisis and also put them back on the path of progress, the chief minister said.
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