Ensure eight-hour uninterrupted power supply to farmers: Punjab CM
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Jun, 2021 10:26 AM
Chandigarh, June 25 (IANS) Facing massive statewide agitation by farmers over power outages, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday issued directions to ensure eight-hour uninterrupted power supply and to purchase deficient power from outside the state at any cost to prevent any supply disruption in the ongoing sowing season.
Chairing a high-level meeting to review the power supply to the farmers during the ongoing kharif season, he directed the Finance Department to release Rs 500 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) to tide over the financial crunch faced amid the pandemic.
Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who was present at the meeting, assured that his department would release these funds without delay.
The PSPCL earlier informed the meeting that it was facing a severe financial crunch as a result of slowdown in consumption and revenue collection in the last one year due to the pandemic.
Reiterating his government's commitment to providing continuous eight-hour supply to farmers for sowing their crops, the Chief Minister directed PSPCL to purchase deficient power, if needed from outside the state at any cost, to meet the government's commitment to the farmers.
There should be no disruption of power supply to the farmers, he added.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal said the farm economy of Punjab has been endangered by the Congress government with massive power cuts and insufficient canal water, threatening to devastate the paddy crop.
He said farmers were barely getting four to five hours of power and that too in gaps instead of the promised eight hour uninterrupted power supply.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 1,500 crore for the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal and Odisha, and assured the states of more support after conducting separate aerial surveys with chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik on Friday.
US President Donald Trump tweeted that the US would donate ventilators to India in the fight against COVID-19. "We stand with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during this pandemic,".
Fugitive liquor lord Vijay Mallya Thursday lost his application to appeal against extradition proceedings in the England Supreme Court, setting off the 28-day “mandatory period” for the 64-year-old businessman to be extradited to India on charges of fraud and money laundering related to unrecovered loans to his now non existent Kingfisher Airlines.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 270 billion dollar package to tackle the impact of coronavirus and weeks of lockdown. India would not be controlled by the virus, he said, also announcing "lockdown 4" after May 17 in a "completely different form", with new rules.
Heartfelt messages and prayers pour in for former Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, 87, who had undergone a heart surgery, had agreed to advise Punjab Government on ways to cope with the economic and humanitarian crisis in the wake of the pandemic. He complained of chest pain on Sunday evening and was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. (AIIMS)
