The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to the Punjab government and others on a PIL seeking abolition of agricultural pump set subsidy to rich farmers.
A division bench comprising justices A K Mittal and Amit Rawal also issued notice to power regulator Punjab Electricity Regulatory Commission.
In his petition, advocate Hari Chand Arora claimed that Punjab has been providing free electricity for tubewells to farmers for the last several years.
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"Such subsidy which is reimbursed to PSPCL (Punjab State Power Corporation)by the state government has touched the figure of Rs 6,113 crore during 2016-2017. The rich farmers are also availing this subsidy," he claimed in the petition.
The petitioner further claimed that some rich farmers of Punjab are enjoying free power for the tubewells installed for irrigating farm land.
The petitioner pleaded that rich farmers be excluded from the purview of this scheme saying they do not deserve such concessions.
"The amount so saved can be utilised for redressal of legitimate grievances of small farmers who are committing suicides due to burden of debt. All IAS/IPS officers, MLAs/MPs/industrialists who have farm lands also, should be excluded from the benefits of this scheme," the petition said.
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