Chennai: The Opposition DMK in Tamilnadu has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill which intends to undermine the states’ legislative powers over electricity and to abandon the proposal to cancel free electricity for the farmers.
In a letter to Modi and to the Chief Ministers of non-BJP ruled States seeking their support, DMK president M K Stalin said in 1990 late DMK Chief M Karunanidhi announced the “Free power supply for all farmers” policy, the first of it’s kind in the Nation’s history that guaranteed farmers their rightful welfare.
This policy has been a key pillar of economic growth in Tamilnadu since then, protecting lakhs of farmers, while controlling food inflation.
“To undo this policy today, the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020, will severely threaten the livelihoods of lakhs of our farmers. Further, in the wake of the pandemic and its economic
repercussions, not only is this an irresponsible decision, but also an attempt to divert the attention from the most pressing issue at hand–the effective management of the COVID crisis”, he said.
Stating that as per Constitution, “Electricity” was a subject of the Concurrent List (Entry 38), while tax on electricity consumption and sales were under the purview of the State
government as seen in the State List (Entry 54), he said the Electricity Bill has been structured to transgress the States’ legislative powers in both the State and Concurrent
Lists given in the Seventh Schedule under Article 246 of the Constitution.
He said several provisions in the Bill encroach the rights of the States, and were against the principles of Federalism as enshrined in Constitution: Using the people’s mandate given to the BJP to lead the government for the next five years to step into the states’ legislative power or to breach the principles of federalism does not bode well for a healthy Centre-State relationship.
This centralization of State agencies only to privatise the electricity later on was totally unacceptable, Stalin said.
“Hence, as the President of DMK, I request you to withdraw the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill which intends to undermine the states’ legislative powers over electricity and to abandon the proposal to cancel free electricity for the farmers”, he said.
In similar letters to Chief Ministers of non-BJP ruled states, he requested them to stand by the efforts taken by the DMK to protect the rights of the states and the federalism guaranteed by the Constitution.