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prime concern Pumping disaster in Punjab Punjab has insisted on sticking to free power for agriculture, irrespective of the consequences for the state government’s finances or the falling ground water level. The Tribune takes a look at the spread and misuse of tubewells running for free. By Prabhjot Singh It’s the peak of summer, the time when everyone starts feeling the burn from power and water shortage. As environmentalists and governments across the country struggle to find ways to overcome the annual desperation, Punjab has little hope of coming out of the spiral set off by its free power scheme to pump out water for its farms.
last word
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POWER subsidy Pumping disaster in Punjab Punjab has insisted on sticking to free power for agriculture, irrespective of the consequences for the state government’s finances or the falling ground water level. The Tribune takes a look at the spread and misuse of tubewells running for free. By Prabhjot Singh
It’s
the peak of summer, the time when everyone starts feeling the burn from power and water shortage. As environmentalists and governments across the country struggle to find ways to overcome the annual desperation, Punjab has little hope of coming out of the spiral set off by its free power scheme to pump out water for its farms. With every farmer in Punjab getting free power, as in September last year there were 11,73,980 tubewell pumping out water without paying anything. The total cost of the power, paid by the government, in 2011-2012 was Rs 3,879 crore. Numbers were not available for new tubewell connections sanctioned between October 2012 and January this year, but the number of pending applications for new power connections for farming purpose stood at a whopping 3.63 lakh. The government recently gave approval for 25,000 tubewell new connections. Last year, when the Food and Supplies Department disbursed paddy bonus to every farmer individually, the number of beneficiary families came to around 10 lakh. This figure may be taken as a rough approximation of the total farming families in the state, which was corroborated by state Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, who in his Budget Speech this year promised to continue the free power supply to ‘10 lakh farmer families in the state’.
Multiple connections The gap of nearly 2 lakh between the number of tubewells and farming families indicates many farmers have more than one power connection. And to imagine there is still a waiting list for 3.63 lakh connections. State power corporation officials admit there is hardly any campaign ever to detect misuse of farm connections. Initially, there was a ceiling of one power connection per family. But this was later removed as many farmers with larger land holdings found it inadequate. According to experts, one connection of 7.5 HP motor can serve only 5-7 acres. The number of farmers with more than one power connection is estimated between 8 and 10, with holdings ranging from 15 to 50 acres. Experts believe 75 per cent of Punjab farmers have one connection each, and their holdings are between 2.5 and 7.5 acres. The power corporation, however, does not have data on the distribution pattern of tubewell connections among small, marginal and big farmers. An exercise though has been launched to identify how many of the pending applicants have land holdings up to 2.5 acres, 5 acres, and more than 5 acres. This could help distribute power subsidy among small, marginal and big farmers more judiciously.
Surface water ignored Growing dependence on tubewells for irrigation is not advisable, as this leads to rapid depletion of underground water reservoirs, estimated at over 1 foot a year, in Punjab. This also leads to less exploitation of the available surface water. Letting canal or river water go surplus could go against Punjab in inter-state water disputes. The convenience of irrigating farms with tubewells — as opposed to waiting for ones turn for canal water on cold winter nights — combined with free power, makes farmers prefer ground water. There are various ways in which this free power is misused, admit power officials. One of them is farmers installing motors of capacities larger than sanctioned. For upgrading the capacity of a motor, a fee of Rs 4,500 per kW increase is charged. However, farmers often wait for ‘voluntary disclosure schemes’, under which the fee is lowered to around Rs 1,500, says Ajit Gulati, a former Engineer-in-Chief of the power corporation. Farmers are supposed to run motor pump only of sanctioned capacities, and power is supplied on dedicated tubwell lines for limited hours in a day. A farmer can also have two light points (CFL bulbs) — one inside the pump house and one outside. Any other use of this free power is prohibited. If a tubewell connection is sanctioned under a priority category, such as for a farm with sprinkler irrigation, discontinuation of sprinklers is then considered misuse.
Free for all Change of land use unofficially remains a major concern for the Power Supply Corporation. A boom in real estate over the past decade saw many farmers disposing of their agricultural land for high returns. Some of the enterprising among them, however, retained small portions of the land on which the tubwell was housed to retain the benefit of free power subsidy, Gulati says. In one case, a farmer bought new tankers to start supply drinking water for a price after his requirement for irrigation had ended as he had sold his agricultural land. In another case, a farmer started supplying water and also electricity to a builder after selling the land to him. “Even if we take that 2 per cent of the estimated 10 lakh farmers would have sold their land to builders, the free power connections misused on that would account for more than Rs 75 crore of the power subsidy,” a senior power corporation official points out. Even as the combined number of beneficiaries in these two groups is more than double the number of farming families — 5 lakh BPL families and 18 lakh SC families, compared to 10 lakh farmer families — the benefit of power subsidy is heavily tilted in favour of the latter. Subsidy on account of farm supply was Rs 3,879 crore in 2011-12, while for the BPL and SC families it was Rs 379 crore. Besides its own sources of thermal and hydel power, the Punjab Power Supply Corporation also makes purchases from outside to maintain “uninterrupted supply” to the farm sector during the peak season. The average cost of such purchases is around Rs 3.44 per unit.
Sinking deeper With the level of subsoil water going lower every year, farmers are opting for deeper or more powerful pumps than sanctioned without intimating the power authorities. This additional load often leads to power supply disruptions, or transformers getting burnt. Action is rarely taken, that too only against small farmers. Those with large land holdings and political influence often get away scot free.
There are procedures meant to prevent misuse of power supplied on dedicated rural feeders, yet there are several privileged farmers whose premises and tubewells remain inaccessible to power corporation staff. Even as the waiting list for fresh tubewell connections is 3.63 lakh, there are at least three categories under which these are sanctioned on priority. One is the Power Corporation Chairman’s quota, which in reality is exercised by political bigwigs; the second is for ex-servicemen; while the third is for farmers opting for sprinklers for irrigation.
If Punjab continues to overexploit ground water, and ignore surface water like canals, it could weaken its case in inter-state water disputes.
Priority quotas for farm connections Chairman quota Ex-serviceman quota Sprinkler system quota
Average consumption If a pump consumes 5 units of electricity an hour, total power consumed during a day’s six-hour supply would be 30 units. (1-HP motor consumes 0.746 kW/hr)
Our government is committed to providing free power to the 10 lakh farmer families and up to 200 units of free power to 5 lakh BPL and 18 lakh Scheduled Caste families of the state. As per award of the regulator, the government compensates the state power corporation for the free power. A sum of Rs 5,785 crore has been budgeted for
2013-14. — Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Punjab Finance
Minister, in his March 2013 budget speech
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last word
When
Chandigarh-born Srikanth “Sri” Srinivasan was confirmed as the first-ever South Asian American to serve as a judge on a US Circuit Court, the buzz was not so much about the history he had created, but that which many expect he is destined to make. On May 23, the US Senate in a 97-0 vote confirmed 46-year-old Srinivasan to be a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Was the appointment historic? Of course. Legal analysts were also quick to point out that the court is an incubator for future US Supreme Court judges. Four of the justices on the nine-member US Supreme Court Bench — Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — served on the DC Court of Appeals. The fact that Srinivasan was able to win unanimous support from a Senate notorious for bipartisan bickering has only fuelled talk that he is a frontrunner to be nominated for a seat on the US Supreme Court Bench, if a vacancy opens up during President Barack Obama’s term in the White House. Democratic and Republican presidents have struggled to appoint judges to the appeals court. Srinivasan’s confirmation marked the first time since 2006 that the Senate has confirmed a judge to the court. Three vacancies remain in the court, including the seat held by Chief Justice Roberts before he was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 2005. “The enthusiastic bipartisan support he has received reflects his effective work for both Democratic and Republican administrations and numerous well respected judges,” said Senator Mark R Warner, Virginia Democrat and co-chair of the bipartisan Senate India Caucus. Dress rehearsal
It is not just lawmakers, but legal analysts as well who are predicting big things for Srinivasan. “The stakes in this nomination are clear: if Srinivasan passes this test and wins confirmation, he’ll be on the Supreme Court before President Obama’s term ends,” legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin wrote in the New Yorker on the eve of the confirmation hearing. “If Srinivasan runs the confirmation gauntlet now, it will be difficult for Republicans to argue that he’s unconfirmable just months later. His credentials would surely appeal to Obama, who has a fondness for technocrats, and his thin paper trail would make him difficult to attack. Which is why it looks very much like this hearing isn’t just a test for Srinivasan — it’s a dress rehearsal.” Obama is firmly in Srinivasan’s corner. Following his confirmation, the President described his nominee as “a trailblazer who personifies the best of America”. Basketball freak
Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh on February 23, 1967. His family moved to the USA where he was raised in Lawrence, Kansas. His father was a professor of mathematics at the University of Kansas. His mother taught at the Kansas City Art Institute and later at the University of Kansas computer science department. At Lawrence High School, Srinivasan is recalled as much for his basketball skills as his sharp intellect. The Srinivasans became so fanatical about basketball that they would travel across the country to watch their team, the University of Kansas’ Jayhawks, play. Srinivasan studied at Stanford University in California from where he earned a BA, and then an MBA and a law degree. At Stanford, he was the editor of the Stanford Law Review. Srinivasan was a law clerk for 4th Circuit Appeals Court Judge Harvie Wilkinson III and then for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. He spent nearly two decades as a litigator and argued several cases in front of the Supreme Court. In one light-hearted moment before the Supreme Court, Srinivasan mistakenly referred to Justice David H Souter as Justice Scalia. When he apologised to Justice Souter for the mixup, the justice responded: “Thank you, but apologise to [Justice Scalia]!” The exchange drew laughter in the court. Srinivasan most recently served as Principal Deputy Solicitor-General of the US, a post which was previously occupied by Neal Katyal, another trailblazing Indian-American. Former solicitors-general, principal deputies and fellow law clerks wrote a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Srinivasan’s nomination. “He takes a case where the facts and the law lead him. He is also a terrific listener who values hearing all sides of an argument before formulating a final position,” they wrote. Warner described Srinivasan as exceptionally well qualified and underscored the hopes that are riding on him. Srinivasan’s “approval also has great significance for the Indian-American community, which despite an incredibly rich talent pool in the legal arena, is underrepresented at the highest levels of our legal system,” said Warner. “Sri Srinavasan is poised to change that as he continues his exceptional career.” Obama is firmly in Srinivasan’s corner. Following his confirmation, the President described his nominee as “a trailblazer who personifies the best of America”.
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The damage is two way: the government goes deeper into debt paying for the power subsidy, and the ground water table sinks towards depths from where pumping may become unviable in near future.
The power subsidy to the farm sector has grown from Rs 404 crore in 1996-97 to Rs 5,785 crore set aside by the state Finance Minister for 2013-14. This includes the cost of reimbursement for free power supplied to both Below Poverty Line and Scheduled Caste families in the state. 
The widely-held opinion is that it’s only a matter of time before Srinivasan is appointed to the Bench of the highest court of the land: the US Supreme Court in Washington. The speculation is not unfounded.