The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) has announced State-wide demonstrations on Thursday (June 18) to bring pressure on Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) to reject the application submitted by Tata Power seeking a power distribution licence in the State.

Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Wednesday (June 17), KRRS leader Badagalapura Nagendra said Tata Power, a private electricity company, had applied for a parallel power distribution licence in 19 districts of Karnataka that are already served by State-owned electricity distribution companies.

The private company, he said, had allegedly ruined the power distribution system in Odisha, where it had obtained a licence for distribution. A similar application submitted in Karnataka now should be rejected, Mr. Nagendra said.

Karnataka’s power sector, with a history spanning nearly 124 years, has established a robust system for electricity generation, storage and distribution. Significant public investment has gone into creating the necessary infrastructure and assets, the KRRS leader said before alleging that Tata Power is now seeking to benefit from these publicly created assets.

KRRS, which has been consistently opposing the privatisation of the power sector, said any move to hand over public utilities to private entities would undermine the objectives of Central and State government programmes aimed at rural electrification and universal access to electricity.

Not only would electricity supply to agricultural pump sets be affected, but welfare schemes such as Bhagya Jyothi and Kuteera Jyothi for poor households may suffer. 

The 200 units of free power to domestic connections offered by the State government will also come under a threat while power concessions currently available to small and medium industries would be affected, resulting in a higher burden on consumers.

KRRS has urged the farmers, industrialists and consumers to submit written objections to KERC before June 23. It said objections can also be filed through electricity department offices across the State and appealed to the public to make use of this facility.

KRRS will stage protest demonstrations at all district and taluk headquarters on June 18 and submit objections to KERC through the respective Deputy Commissioners and tahsildars.

Irrigation pump set users and electricity consumers have been asked to participate in large numbers.