Last September, Prahlad Singh Shekhawat, 72, a farmer in Dhod village of Rajasthan’s Sikar district, paid Rs 1,023 as accumulated electricity charges for July and August, which was billed in September. Since then, it has gone up by nearly Rs 1,700 for the two-month cycle: Shekhawat, 72, paid Rs 2,712 in November 2019, Rs 2,752 in January this year, Rs 2,755 in March, and Rs 2,749 in May.
Until September 2019, farmers in Rajasthan received a monthly subsisidy on power bills amounting to Rs 833, introduced by the previous BJP government in 2018. From September 2019, the Congress government of Ashok Gehlot stopped the subsidy, which was automatically added to the bill, reducing it by Rs 1,666 (Rs 833×2) for the two-month cycle.
