5 years on, Haryana farmers await tubewell connections

ROHTAK:Thousands of farmers in the state have been left in the lurch as the Haryana government is yet to issue tubewell connections promised to them five years ago.

Till June 3, the state power department had 84,537 pending applications for the connections. It had decided to first grant the connections to those who made payment for the five-star rating motor and estimated cost of connection.

As per the department data, total 9,039 farmers have deposited the estimated amount, of which 2,065 connections were given to them till June 3.

Haryana power minister Ranjit Singh Chautala had stated that the government will give out tubewell connections to 4,868 out of 9,039 farmers by June 15.

A total of 1,848 farmers paid the estimated cost in Bhiwani, of which only 376 received connections. This was followed by Sirsa, where 1,499 farmers paid the amount, but only 261 were issued connections. In Sonepat, 88 farmers such farmers got the tubewell link out of 1,232.

Farmers’ leader Balbir Takhan said even after paying ₹3 to ₹5 lakh (with estimated cost for poles and transformer), they have been waiting to get tubewell connections for the past five years.

“Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced to release connections to 44,000 farmers ahead of Lok Sabha election in 2019, but the promise has fallen flat. Now, the government has declared 4,868 connections by June 15, but the remaining farmers will have to wait. Why is the government playing with our lives,” Takhan added.

The power minister had said that rest of the farmers would get their connections later.