The CPI(M) district secretary Mudhireddy Sudhakar Reddy on Sunday urged the Centre to withdraw the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill-2020.
Sudhakar Reddy was addressing party members who staged a protest at the party office in Nalgonda opposing the Bill.
He said that Electricity (Amendment) Bill-2020 proposed by the Centre was aimed at grabbing powers of the states in the sector. Though the electricity sector falls under concurrent list, States have the rights for power generation, supply and fixing of power tariff. The BJP government at the Centre was conspiring to remove the rights of the State in electricity sector one by one. “It is unfortunate that the Centre was resorting to privatisation of public sector units and waiving off bank loans of defaulters at a time when the country was facing a pandemic. The decisions of the Centre are imposing financial burden on the poor and benefitting the corporate sector,” he said.
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The CPI (M) leader said the bill will prevent subsidized tariff and free power to the agriculture sector. Power charges would be collected from the farmers by fixing meters to their agricultural pumpsets. It would result in Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 financial burden on farmers per year in the form of electricity bills, which will push the agriculture sector into a crisis, he said.
He alleged that the Centre was conspiring to end the federal system with one nation, one ration card, one tax, one nation and now this power amendment bill. He cautioned that left parties would launch an agitation on the lines of the 2000 agitation.
Party leaders Banda Srishailam, Paladugu Nagarjuna, MD Saleem, P Prabhavathi and others participated in the protest demonstration.
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