Kisan Ekta Kendra ’ s Movement against the Smart Metre Scheme in UP
The ‘ Kisan Ekta Kendra ’ initiated a movement against the installation of smart metres in Western Uttar Pradesh . This protest has been successfully carried out in Shamli , Baghpat , and Meerut districts and is expanding to neighbouring districts of Saharanpur , Muzaffarnagar , Bijnor , Bulandshahr , and Mathura districts . Efforts are underway to expand this across all of Uttar Pradesh . Farmers and labourers have actively participated in this movement , and there has been a significant involvement of women as well . Groundwork
The ‘ Kisan Ekta Kendra ’ had been preparing for this movement against the installation of smart metres for several months . As part of these preparations , the organisation initially launched a public awareness campaign against the government ’ s plan to install smart metres . Booklets and pamphlets written in simple language were distributed among all the workingclass communities in the villages ; Farmers and labourers were informed about how , after independence , a vast electricity infrastructure was built across the country with their hard-earned money and of the people . Until the 1980s , government policies on electricity benefited the public , but later , policy changes turned it into a profit-making tool for capitalists . As a result , the rising cost of electricity became a burden not just for farmers , but for all working people . It was explained that while electricity became a necessity , it has become increasingly unaffordable to pay the high bills . The Movement Expands
Sanjeev Tomar , the national president of ‘ Kisan Ekta Kendra ’, explained that the organisation primarily works with landless , small , 20 and medium-scale farmers in western Uttar Pradesh , who make up about 86 % of the total farming population in the region . Sugarcane is the main cash crop in this area . Prominent farmer leaders — Chaudhary Charan Singh and Mahendra Singh Tikait , came from this place .
Tomar added that during the village-level awareness campaign , they received support from many farmers and labourers who helped activists and pledged to join the struggle . Through discussions with them , an initial outline of the movement and 11 demands were prepared which included the cancellation of the smart metre installation plan , a complete halt on the privatisation of electricity , 300 units of free electricity for domestic connections , and unconditional free electricity for tubewell connections . Eightfold Increase in Electricity Bills in Ten Years
Leading the movement , Sanjeev Tomar also noted that electricity bills for households and tubewells in Uttar Pradesh have increased by more than eight times in the last ten years . The load for domestic and tubewell connections in rural areas has also been significantly increased .
Since the Lok Sabha elections , the electricity department has been conducting raids in villages , leading to harassment of farmers and labourers . This has caused frequent confrontations between electricity department employees and the local villagers .
Overall , electricity , which is now a basic human necessity , has been turned into a tool for exploiting the working-class population by the Uttar Pradesh government .
- Satyendra Siddharth
Exploitative Policies
Instead of acknowledging the hardships faced by the workingclass people , the state government should have put a stop to the electricity department ’ s raids , reduced the increased load on connections , and lowered electricity rates . However , similar to a cunning shopkeeper exploiting a trapped customer , the state government announced the installation of smart metres in households and tubewells . Through this , the government plans to provide a Rs . 72,000 crore market to companies manufacturing electrical equipment and to privatise the electricity distribution sector . This move is expected to further increase electricity prices and lead to job losses for many electricity workers . Least Electricity Consumption , Highest Bills
According to Praveen Balyan , national spokesperson of ‘ Kisan Ekta Kendra ’, the people of Uttar Pradesh have the second-lowest per capita electricity consumption in the world after Bihar , yet they pay some of the highest rates . The irregularities in billing are severe ; rural families who barely earn Rs . 5,000-7,000 per month and consume minimal electricity receive exorbitant bills . Every fifth or sixth household in villages receives an incorrect electricity bill . Poor farmers and labourers are forced to run around electricity offices , pleading with officials to correct these deliberate errors . Smart Metres : A Deception
Reports in newspapers mentioned that the installation of smart metres would begin in Baghpat district in western Uttar Pradesh . Progovernment newspapers started publishing a long list of the benefits
Class Struggle