People's Democracy

ANDHRA PRADESH

Aquaculture Farmers Agitate For Reduction Of Power Tariff

M Venugopala Rao

FARMERS of aquaculture in Nellore district have been agitating,  protesting against hefty hike in power tariff and compulsory metering of their service connections.  About 1.2 lakh acres in the district is under aquaculture.  The attempts of AP Transco, following the order of A P Electricity Regulatory Commission, to fix meters to motors being used for aquaculture in the district was resisted by the farmers.  Unmindful of the agitation of farmers of aquaculture, the state government got  meters fixed to their electric motors and started charging power tariff at the rate of Rs. 1.74 and later at the rate of  Rs. 1.25 per unit, instead of the earlier slab rate in pursuance of the order for the year 2001-02 given by APERC.

The farmers of aquaculture in the district have been persistently agitating in various forms, conducting dharnas, meetings, removing meters, burning them and returning the meters,  laying siege to the office of AP Transco in Nellore, etc., demanding reduction of power tariff and stopping forcible metering of their service connections.  In connection with this agitation, the police arrested hundreds of farmers and foisted cases against them.

With persistent demand of the farmers and continued agitations, the government agreed to provide a subsidy of Rs. 7.65 crore for the year 2002-03 as a result of which APERC reduced the tariff for aquaculture to Rs. 0.90 per unit for consumers with less than 10 HP.  Compared to earlier slab rates, unit-wise metered tariff is still higher.

Under the banner of the United Forum for Protection of Agriculture Sector, about five thousand farmers of aquaculture laid siege to  Vidyut Bhavan in Nellore earlier in the month of July, foiling the attempts of the police to prevent them from entering into the town.  They conducted rasta roko at the office of the Superintending Engineer of AP Transco, raising slogans against harassment by the police.  The siege continued from 9 AM to 1 PM with the influx of farmers coming in groups from all over the district.  Raising resounding slogans, the farmers squatted on the road for about half an hour from 1 PM as a result of which vehicular traffic came to a complete standstill.  The attempts of the police to convince the farmers to give up rasta roko failed and the farmers insisted that they would not end their agitation till the officers concerned give an assurance to reduce power tariff.  After the leaders of the United Forum, Jakka Venkaiah,  C V Sesha Reddy and others, persuaded the farmers assuring to continue the agitation peacefully in various forms till power tariff was reduced,  they relented.  The CPI(M) state secretary, B V Raghavulu, and former leader of the Congress legislature party, P Janardhan Reddy, extended their  support to the agitation of the farmers of aquaculture and  promised that the MLAs of their parties would bring the problem  to the notice of the government and seek redress. 

The CPI assistant secretary, Dr K Narayana, the president of the state unit of Kisan Sangh, J Damodar Rao, leaders of the United Forum, T P Bhanuraju, Ch Ramana Reddy, C Rajagopal, N Krishnaiah, P Dasaradharamaiah, Suresh Reddy, local MLA A Vivekananda Reddy and the Chairman of Zilla Parishad, Chenchalababu Yadav participated in the agitation.

Later, a delegation consisting of the leader of the CPI(M) legislature party, Nomula Narasimhaiah, joint secretary of A P Rythu Sangham, B Tulasidas and leaders of the United Forum C Rajagopal, B Venkateswarlu and K Harikishore Reddy submitted a memorandum to the chief minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, demanding reduction of power tariff to farmers of aquaculture in Nellore district by restoring the earlier slab system  and stopping forcible fixing of meters to their service connections.  They explained to the CM that it was not fair to increase power tariff to the farmers of aquaculture, for example, to Rs. 8600 to a farmer who used to pay Rs. 5300 per annum earlier for 3 HP motor, and that it would be an unbearable burden for them, especially when the prices of prawns were falling. The CM promised to examine the issue favourably and take appropriate measures.

MULBERRY FARMERS

AIGTATION

Farmers cultivating mulberry and producing silk cocoons in Anantapur district, especially in Hindupur parliamentary constituency, have been agitating demanding remunerative prices to their produce. In Andhra Pradesh, the price of cocoons during the season used to be Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 per kg.  As a result of the harmful WTO agreement, imports of silk are flooding the market and the domestic price of silk has suffered a drastic slump.  The price of cocoons per kg is now ranging between Rs. 50 to Rs. 70. Unless the farmers get a minimum price of Rs. 120 per kg, they would incur heavy loss unable to recover even their investment.  Mulberry is being cultivated in Andhra Pradesh in an extent of about 1.26 lakh acres, out of which 80 per cent of the extent is in drought-prone Rayalaseema alone. About six lakh people, with about sixty percent of them being women, are dependent on this sector  to eke out their livelihood.   In 2000-01, the production of cocoons increased to 37,651 metric tonnes and that of raw silk to 4183 metric tonnes.  Out of the total production worth Rs. 786 crore, cocoons worth Rs. 441 crore were produced by the farmers.  Earlier, the farmers used to sell their cocoons in Karnataka market whenever remunerative price was not offered in the AP market.  As a result of the policies of the central  government in permitting imports of silk from China and reducing import duty on silk from 100 per cent  in the past to 30 per cent now, the demand for domestic silk  slackened drastically.   What used to be a source of profitable income to the farmers and earning  foreign exchange, the mulberry-silk industry is on the verge of collapsing, as a result of the failure of the central and state governments to protect the farmers by extending necessary support to them and curbing imports and smuggling of silk into the country.

It is in this background that the farmers cultivating mulberry and producing cocoons resorted to various forms of agitations in a phased manner under the banner of A P Rythu Sangham.  In the month of June farmers conducted rail roko and laid siege to the railway station in Hindupur.  With no response coming from the government, the farmers organised a bandh in Hindupur parliamentary constituency on July 9, demanding remunerative price for cocoons. They demanded abrogation of the WTO agreement and stopping of imports of silk. The CPI(M), the CPI, the Congress and other parties extended their support to the struggle of the farmers.  Thousands of farmers participated in the agitation blocking the thoroughfares with their bullock carts, forcing vehicular traffic to come to a standstill.  Educational institutions, shops and government offices were closed.   The bandh was a resounding success in every assembly segment of Hindupur parliamentary constituency.

At the Ambedkar circle in Hindupur town, the farmers burnt an  effigy of  prime minister Vajpayee.  The police arrested 39 workers of the CPI(M) and its front organisations for enforcing bandh in Kadiri. Anantapur district secretary of the CPI(M), Obula kondareddy, secretary of A P Rythu Sangham, Sarampally Malla Reddy and its district secretary Y Visweswara Reddy, district secretary of the CPI, M V Ramana, former MLA of the CPI, K Ramakrishna, Congress MLA  N Raghuveera Reddy, president of Anantapur district Congress committee, A Venkataramireddy, former MP, participated in this agitation.