No review of free power to farmers: Badal

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Tuesday ruled out stopping free power supply to farmers in the state, rejecting any possibility of reviewing the present subsidy.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently suggested that the Punjab government should review the power subsidy given to farmers.

Badal said that "providing subsidies to compensate the farming community for ensuring food security was a global phenomenon".

Talking to the media at Nawanshehr, 85 km from here, Badal said that there was no need for reviewing or rationalizing the ongoing power subsidies to farmers.

"It is the bounden duty of the state government to share the whopping burden shouldered by them (farmers) while serving the entire country. The hard working and resilient farmers of the state have played a vanguard role in making the country self-reliant in food production and the power subsidy was a meagre way to compensate them for this gigantic task," he said.

Badal said that countries across the globe were assisting their food growers by extending such subsidies. "Punjab is no exception," he added.

The Punjab government has been supplying free power to farmers for the past few years.

Jaitley, in response to a plea by the Punjab government for grant of more finances, had written to the state government pointing out that Punjab, in recent years, was getting enhanced grants from the centre.

Jaitley's letter had suggested to the Punjab government to review the power subsidy given to farmers.