“Don’t give free power, let farmers get it from sun”

Instead of giving free electricity, the Punjab government should help farmers set up solar panels in their fields, feels NASA’s former mission manager for space flights Dr N K Gupta. Asserting that subsidy spoils economy, he said: “Let farmers generate their own power. This will not only reduce the burden on the state, but also make the farm sector self-reliant. Solar power panels can be set up even on cowsheds in farms, and the power can be used to run tubewells.”

Dr Gupta, who now lives in Washington DC and was with the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation in the 80s, who was in Chandigarh on Wednesday for a seminar on solar energy. He told The Indian Express that free power had done more harm than good to the economy of Punjab. “Once I approached World Bank officials, asking them to give grants to the state for some project. But on hearing the name, Punjab, they refused point-blank, saying they could not help a state that gives free power,” he added.

“Freebie regime is against good trading principles, as something which is not being charged for is bound to be misused. Free electricity is at places being used to run air-conditions,” he said.

“Solar power is highly dependable. It can be used anywhere from space to farms. Satellites use solar power, as the set-up has no moving part, and once installed, it stays for 20 to 30 years and requires little or no maintenance,” he said.

Once agriculturists become self-sustained, the available power could be supplied to the industry, he said. “Industry is a more productive sector as compared to agriculture,” he added.

Asserting that the state should keep future in mind while planning, Dr Gupta said: “When Ranjitgarh was being planned near Phillaur more than 25 years ago, I was a member of the commission that worked on the project. I had proposed that the houses should be constructed in a fashion that rooftops can be used to set up solar panels and the walls facing south should also be used for the purpose. The plan did not mature, as the price of solar cells was high at that time, though we knew that it will come down.”

The government should now at least make rooftop panels mandatory, as nanotechnology would bring the costs further down, he added. Spelling out more economic gains, Gupta said the grid could be stabilised once the power demand went down and farmers and domestic users could sell surplus power.

Advocating the need for creating awareness about new technologies, he said the state would have to first do away with machines-will-take-away-jobs thinking. “In India, more than 50 per cent population is into agriculture. In the USA, only 2 per cent people are in the farm sector, but the production is four times higher. This is because of the dependence on machines. Farm labourers can be employed in companies manufacturing machines,” he said.

“Punjab has abundant sunlight and huge potential that needs to be tapped, but for that political will is most important,” he added.