In its second Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh decided to direct sugar mills to clear dues to farmers within 120 days for the supply of canes in 2012-13, 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and also pay the current season’s dues within 14 days of buying canes. The state government said failure to comply with this order will attract strict action against the mill owners. “Legal action will also be taken against sugar mills if they fail to make payments,” state power minister Shrikant Sharma said.
According to data collected from the cane commissioner’s office, for the 2014-15 season, mills have cleared 99.81% dues, for 2015-16, 99.07% payment has been made and cane dues for the 2012-13 season now stand at Rs 5.03 crore, for 2014-15, the arrears are at Rs 40.11 crore while for 2015-16, it stands at Rs 150 crore. In the current season, mills have already paid 81% of the cane dues and the total outstanding stands at Rs 4,303 crore.
In another major decision, the Cabinet said it will buy 1 lakh tonnes of potato produce from the farmers at the rate of Rs 487 per quintal. The government has directed district magistrates to open procurement centres, wherever needed, and start procurement immediately.
To tackle the gruelling summers, the CM ordered that an 18-hour power supply be provided in villages, 20 hours at tehsil level and in Bundelkhand region, and 24 hours in district headquarters.
The Cabinet also decided to ink a pact with the Centre to ensure 24-hours Power to All by October 2018.
Briefing mediapersons about the Cabinet’s decisions, Sharma said the ambitious ‘Power for All’ pact will be signed by CM Yogi Adityanath and Union power minister Piyush Goyal on April 14 to meet the Centre’s target of making the state energy-efficient by 2018 and help in ensuring power in all UP villages before 2019. “It is the dream of BJP chief Amit Shah and the chief minister that every house and every village gets power by 2018,” Sharma said.
The chief minister also directed officials to ensure that there is an uninterrupted power supply to villages from 6 in the evening to 6 in the morning to ensure that students preparing for exams are not disturbed. And also ensure that defective or burnt transformers are replaced soon so that agriculture is not disrupted.
Replying to former CM Akhilesh Yadav’s statement that there is nothing new in providing power during Navratri and Ramnavami, and that the decision to provide 18 hours electricity to villages, 20 hours to tehsils and Bundelkhand region, and 24 hours for district headquarters was already taken by his government, Sharma said that earlier the roster system was there but it existed merely on files and remained restricted to the CM’s residence and some VIP areas. Now, it will be implemented on the ground. “This would be the first time that UP’s villages would get 18 hours of assured power supply,” he said.
The chief minister also directed the power department to ensure that defective or burnt transformers are replaced expeditiously in rural areas so that agricultural operations do not suffer. “It has also been decided that defective transformers would be changed within 48 hours in rural areas and not in 72 hours as was being done previously. And in urban areas, it would be changed within 24 hours,” he said, adding that all employees of the power ministry have been directed to reach out to the farmers of their districts and get to know the problems and difficulties they are facing.
Announcing a one-time settlement scheme, Sharma said it was decided to waive off the electricity surcharge on domestic connection and take only principal amount of the bill. “In addition, farmers having bills of over Rs 10,000 pending will get relief in the form of making the payment in four instalments over a period of one year,” he said.