State govt pushed power sector into financial crisis: TDP

PNS|AMARAVATI

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national spokesman, GV Reddy, here on Friday said that the power sector in Andhra Pradesh is pushed into a deep financial crisis after the YSRCP came to power.

GV Reddy told media persons at the TDP headquarters here that Chief Minister, Jagan Mohan Reddy, before coming to power said that the power tariff will not be revised and he also promised to improve the power sector. “But, Jagan has taken a total reverse stance and cheated the people of the State,” the TDP national spokesman said.

Nara Chandrababu Naidu, when he was the chief minister, had entered into an agreement to purchase the power at Rs 5 per unit and Jagan, who was in the Opposition at that time criticised the then government. But now the situation has come to such a pass that each unit has to be purchased at Rs 20, Reddy said. This clearly indicates the inefficient administration of Jagan, he remarked.

The Andhra Pradesh Genco and the Electricity Board employees too are criticising the latest agreement on power purchase, GV Reddy said adding that the Discoms have to spend huge amount on this now. This, in turn, is resulting in the high tariff being imposed on the consumer, he added. The Krishnapatnam Port, which can be utilised for power generation, is being privatised like how the Gangavaram Port was privatised earlier, he stated and asked what is the need to hand over the ports to private organisations when there is a facility for power generation through coal. Gencos, Discoms, consumers and even the power sector employees are the worst hit during the YSRCP rule, Reddy said.

Jagan is proposing to hand over the power supply system to private companies by fixing motors to agricultural pump sets, the TDP leader said and strongly condemned this. He said any such move will firmly be resisted by the TDP. Succumbing to the pressure from the Central Government, the State is trying to fix meters to agricultural pump sets, he maintained. Observing that the TDP did not revise the power tariff even once during its five-year tenure, including to domestic consumers, GV Reddy said that the Jagan Reddy Government is not keeping its promise made both to the farming sector and to the domestic consumers. Even the job vacancies in Genco and Discoms are not being filled and there is no indication on the Pay Revision Commission (PRC), he pointed out.

No quality power supply in any part of the State and the power generation equipment is being purchased at heavy prices only for commissions, he said adding that the power subsidy for SCs and STs is still not being implemented properly. Jagan has miserably failed on all fronts, including bringing in reforms in the power sector, GV Reddy said and called upon the people to bring down the Jagan Mohan Reddy Government to save the State from the crisis.