Kavitha Alleges ‘Conspiracy Against Farmers’ Over Telangana’s Proposed Rythu DISCOM

BRS MLC and Telangana Jagruthi president Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Telangana government over the proposed Rythu DISCOM , alleging that the move was a “conspiracy against farmers” and warning that it could severely damage the State’s agriculture sector.

Speaking during a public hearing conducted by the Telangana Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) on the proposal to create a separate electricity distribution company exclusively for farmers, Kavitha questioned the government’s intentions and accused it of pushing the project without transparency.

She argued that if the proposal was genuinely beneficial for farmers, the government should have openly debated it in the Assembly instead of handling it quietly. She also demanded that public hearings be conducted in all 33 districts of Telangana before any final decision is taken.

Kavitha said the State’s existing DISCOMs were already burdened with huge debts and operational losses, and creating another company would only deepen the financial crisis instead of solving it. According to her, the government itself owes thousands of crores in pending dues towards free power supply, lift irrigation projects and subsidy reimbursements.

Claiming that the new structure could place additional pressure on the power sector, she warned that nearly 29 lakh agricultural borewell connections in Telangana could face uncertainty if the proposal goes ahead.

The BRS leader stated that the State DISCOMs were currently facing losses of around Rs 69,000 crore , while government dues alone accounted for nearly Rs 54,000 crore . She maintained that clearing these pending payments would improve the financial health and ratings of the existing utilities without the need for a separate farmer-focused DISCOM.

Kavitha also criticised the proposed staff allocation model, alleging that while nearly 42 percent of the power load would be shifted to the new DISCOM, only around 2,000 employees out of the existing workforce of 45,000 would be assigned to it. This, she said, could lead to severe manpower shortages and delays in services such as transformer repairs in rural areas.

Accusing the government of indirectly paving the way for power sector privatisation , Kavitha alleged that the proposal was linked to efforts to install meters for agricultural pump sets in line with Central power sector reforms.

She further alleged that electricity sector rules related to bifurcation had been ignored and claimed that employees from Andhra Pradesh had been brought into Telangana power utilities in violation of norms. Kavitha demanded that any new farmer DISCOM should employ only Telangana personnel.

Warning of a statewide campaign against the proposal, she said the BRS would reach out directly to farmers and expose what she described as the government’s “deception” if the project receives approval.