Cooperative Distribution Model Proposed for Farmers’ Power Supply

Context

The farmers in Rajasthan are also struggling to get a constant source of electricity in north western India. The agricultural sector is one of the prominent thrust industries of the state which is hugely affected with power related issues including intermittent power supply, voltage dips, and inadequate energy. To this end, there has been a proposed model that involves a cooperative-based delivery system to guarantee stable electricity supply and distribution for the farmers.

Challenges in Current Power Supply

The current power supply system in Rajasthan faces several challenges, including:

• Frequent power outages: Farmers in the country have continuously complained of power blackouts, which sometimes go for a few hours, a problem that influences irrigation and crop production.
• Voltage fluctuations: Voltage instability causes high energy demand in farms while making it hard to grow crops that require steady climate conditions.
• Inadequate supply: There is a problem of irregular supply of electricity to farmers who use it for pumping water for irrigation and as a result they experience low crop yields.
• High transmission losses: There is high waste in transmission mainly due to weak infrastructure that have weakened the distribution network.
• Energy theft: Regarding the BTM, the conspirators undertake energy theft, and it affects the utility by losing its revenues.
• Limited access to electricity: This is especially felt by many rural areas where adequate supply and distribution of electricity is still a major challenge, thus impacting negatively on agricultural production and overall rural development.

Cooperative-Based Distribution Model

The cooperative-based distribution model proposes the following:

• Farmer-owned and farmer-operated cooperatives: There will be an organization of farmers to power distribution through formation of cooperatives.
• Decentralized distribution system: The distribution will also be done in a decentralised manner, hence minimizing the losses through the transmission lines and also losses through theft.
• Metering and billing at the cooperative level: This will be done on a co-operative level and it will entail metering and billing and this will also come along with the controls of fairness and accountability.
• Farmers to receive reliable and quality power supply: The consumer benefits of reliable and quality power supply will extend to the farmers and they will be offered the same at a reasonable rate.

Benefits

The cooperative-based distribution model offers several benefits, including:

• Improved irrigation and crop yields: With adequate and reliable power supply, there will be proper functioning of the irrigation facilities and hence improves crop yields and farming production.
• Reduced energy costs: Consumers will be provided with power supply within the agricultural sector at reasonable prices, cutting expenditure on energy.
• Enhanced rural development: Electricity supply will also promote the growth of rural areas, thereby boosting the standards of the inhabitants’ living in the rural areas.
• Increased access to electricity: Through the adoption of the model, distribution of electricity to farming areas, in general, the improvement of rural electrification is enhanced.

Implementation and Management

The implementation and management of the cooperative-based distribution model will involve:

• Formation of farmer cooperatives: This means that farmers will organize themselves into cooperative societies and will operate under the provisions of the laws on formation of cooperatives.
• Training and capacity building: That is why farmers will also be provided with training and capacity in relation to the overall management of the distribution system.
• Establishment of decentralized distribution infrastructure: The entire metering and billing system for the distributed infrastructure will also be created.
• Regular monitoring and maintenance: The shops will be monitored and mechanically maintained frequently so as to ascertain their reliability and effectiveness in the distribution network.

Conclusion

The cooperative-based distribution model offers a promising solution to address the poor electricity supply to farmers in Rajasthan. By empowering farmers to manage their own power distribution, this model can improve agricultural productivity, reduce energy costs, and enhance rural development. The model’s success will depend on effective implementation, management, and monitoring.

Source: The Hindu

UPSC Mains Practice Question

Q. “Discuss the potential benefits and challenges of implementing a cooperative-based distribution model for power supply to farmers in Rajasthan. How can this model address the existing issues in the power supply system for agriculture?”

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