Chandigarh, September 16
Farmers in Punjab have been waiting for a tube well connection for as long as 18 years. However, for a lucky few, especially farmers of the ‘VIP’ west zone comprising Bathinda, Muktsar, Faridkot and Ferozepur, there seems to be little waiting period.
Even in the west zone, the PSEB seems to be in tune with the politics of the region and particularly the first family of Punjab — the Badals. For instance, Bathinda has got the lion’s share of all connections in 2008-09 as well as this financial year.
While Bathinda got 10,721 tube well connections last year, as many as 7,236 connections have been released in the district this year till now. In comparison, only 2,621 connections were released in the border zone of Amritsar and Gurdaspur last year while the north zone of Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur-Kapurthala got 3,837 connections.
Faridkot, meanwhile, has lost out in the ‘tube well politics’ after the parliamentary seat became reserved.
While 6,220 tube well connections were released in the area last year, only 2,612 tube well connections have been released this year. Muktsar is maintaining its prominence. Against 7,479 tube well power connections released in the circle last year, only 4,116 connections have been released in the area this year.
The number of connections released under the discretionary quota of the PSEB chairman as well as Own Your Tube Well (OYT) scheme have also increased manifold. For instance, this year out of the total 26,058 connections released, nearly 20,000 were released under the discretionary quota and the OYT scheme. This despite the fact that 4.64 lakh applications for tube well connections are pending with the PSEB, which has processed cases till 1991-92.
Tube well connections are traditionally released in bulk during election years. Against the release of 17,422 connections in 2005-06, the election year 2006-07 saw the release of 39,523 connections during the Congress rule. After the SAD-BJP government took over in 2007-08, only 11,058 connections were released during its first year in office. However, in the second year, this went up to 50,791, increasing the power load by 300 MW.
Meanwhile, the PSEB has recently suspended the release of tube well connections on a priority basis. Its chairman H S Brar said the board would now concentrate on releasing pending connections, according to the application list.
