‘Haryana govt forcefully giving solar connections to farmers’

Chandigarh: Former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda has slammed the state government over the issue of farmers waiting for tubewell connections for many years. Hooda said that the state government is forcefully giving solar pump connections to 20,000 farmers who applied for 10 BHP electric tubewell connections.

“This has led to widespread anger among farmers as solar pumps are not effective in many areas. Farmers will be deprived of irrigation, especially during the fog of December-January. Not only this, the government has also imposed a condition on farmers to adopt micro irrigation system in areas with groundwater below 30 metres, which is completely illegal. We, along with farmers, demand that instead of imposing new rules on farmers, they should be made optional,” he said.

“About 40,000 farmers have deposited the entire amount for the connections to the government. There are so many more farmers who have applied for the connections, but from the very first day, the government is trying to scare the farmers by making an excuse of the capacity of the motor, then the motor of a particular company. The farmer understands his needs and utility very well and plans for necessary equipment accordingly, but the government is deliberately finding new excuses every day to harass them,” he added.