February 21, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 19, 1423

LAHORE, Feb 20: The Punjab government is considering to install special meters to subsidize electricity for tubewells, that would reduce the farmer’s bills by about 50 per cent.

Concerned about the high cost of running tubewells, that has made farmers reluctant to pump out ground resources to counter water shortage, the provincial government looked in to various possibilities to sustain farmers and boost agriculture without placing additional financial burden on Wapda. Finally, it came out with the idea of special meters for tubewells to meet the farmer’s demand and counter water scarcity.

Wapda has recently rejected a federal government proposal to restore flat tariff for tubewells in view of its financial implications as also because the facility had caused increase in line losses in the past as many officials tended to attribute electricity theft to the farming sector’s use of tubewells.

The issue of electricity rates for tubewells keeps constantly surfacing. Farmers continue demanding a subsidized tariff while Wapda maintains that it cannot afford to reduce charges. Both have convincing arguments backing their positions.

However, the farmer’s requirements are not to be ignored. The new government of Punjab looks at the issue in the context of agriculture being the lifeline of the majority population living in rural areas and comprising the farming community. Agriculture is also the most important economic resource of the province and makes a significant contribution towards meeting food needs of the populace.

Both Wapda and Punjab government seem to have agreed that the farming community’s case for subsidized supply of electricity is justified and are said to have agreed in principle that flat rate can be revived if special meters are installed by farmers at tubewells as safety against electricity theft and the practice of writing it down as line losses, provided the difference between actual and flat rate tariff is under written by the provincial government.

The proposal has been discussed between Chief Minister Punjab, Ch Pervaiz Elahi and Chairman Wapda, Gen (retd) Zulfiqar Ali Khan. Sources told Dawn that details and financial costs of its implementation are being worked out by provincial authorities in consultation with Wapda.

About 18 per cent or approximately 70,000 to 80,000 of the over 450,000 tubewells in Punjab are run on electricity; the rest are diesel-based. Farmers spend about Rs400 per tubewell for irrigation of wheat cultivated on one acre. As the crop requires five irrigations, they end up spending up to Rs2,000, the amount equivalent to the price of about six maunds of wheat.

At a time when agriculture inputs have become costlier, this additional but unavoidable expenditure amounts to being the last straw on the beleaguered farmers back. Growers in brackish groundwater areas are more harshly hit as they need intensive pumping for conjunctive use of water but they harness tube wells sparingly in view of electricity charges. This is often to the detriment of the crop’s growth.

But a subsidized tariff would act as incentive for applying underground resources to crops. This would also have a boosting impact on crops. A higher produce is very much in the interest of the provincial government. Investment in subsidizing electricity charges thus offers a win-win situation to the provincial government.

A tricky turn in this scheme is the cost of about Rs20,000 for every meter that is to be installed at the source, that is, at the tubewell; a position on this is yet to be taken by the provincial administration. While this may not be a major investment for some farmers, others who are financially hard pressed are unlikely to be in a position to spare the amount. The problem can be resolved by arranging low interest medium to long-term loans from banks to enable farmers to have the meters installed and pay as they earn.

While time has run out for finalizing and implementing this proposal for the current wheat crop, the government would do well to pursue it on top priority because one crop is always followed by another and water remains the prime input for every crop. The cycle of sowing and cultivating keeps moving; the government should try to keep pace with the schedule of crops.