Farmers getting priority: Harish Rao

HYDERABAD: Criticising the Telugu Desam government of then chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for burdening farmers with inflated electricity bills, finance minister T. Harish Rao on Monday said that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, recognising the plight of the farmers and the need for a separate Telangana state, had fought for their rights.

He was speaking at the Electricity Day function held as part of the State Formation Day celebrations by the electricity department in the Medak district. Harish Rao saw a documentary presented by the department and interacted with consumers.

He condemned the police firing on farmers at Basherbagh during a protest against increased electricity bills during the Telugu Desam regime. He spoke about Desam’s 'Own Your Transformer' scheme, which allowed farmers to borrow and purchase their own transformers.

Harish Rao highlighted the consequences of unreliable electricity supply, such as exploding transformers and burning motors, under the Congress government's free electricity scheme.

Harish Rao affirmed the significant improvements in the power sector in the last nine years. He emphasised that motors and transformers no longer malfunctioned, bribery was eliminated, and necessary infrastructure improvements were made to benefit farmers across the state.