A closer look, however, presents a different picture. Modelled along the lines practiced in Rajasthan, the tatkal scheme is actually a measure to check power theft!

A whopping 2.70 lakh applications for agricultural connections have been pending for the past four-and-a-half years because of the Board's alleged failure to maintain a proper ratio between supply, generation capacity and pending applications. The GEN has more than 6.17 lakh connections at present.

More than these figures, Board officials are worried by the fact that many of the applicant-farmers are tapping electricity lines, thus leading to transmission and distribution (T&D) loss.

Highly placed official sources said though the Board aimed at electrifying 30,000 new or existing wells every year, only about 15,000 connections could be given.

GEB Member (Administration) S K Nanda told Express Newsline that the tatkal scheme had been introduced with a three-fold objective of distinguishing between farmers who were able to pay and the ones who couldn't; forcing farmers pilfering electricity to pay; and increasing Board revenue to utilise it in giving 30,000 ordinary connections.

If these connections could be dealt with on priority, the pending list of ordinary connections would come down, pointed out Nanda, adding that this would benefit farmers who could not to pay.

According to Board estimates, 30 per cent of the agriculture sector could pay more for electricity. Sources said the board expected a good response to the scheme.

Nanda said the Board had enough power to provide the connections. ``If the Board did not have power, it would not have introduced the scheme'', he added.

Farmers will have to deposit Rs 500 to avail of the tatkal scheme, which would be made available within 120 days of application. An amount of Rs 100 will be charged for high and low pressure lines. In case the Board feels the need to set up another distribution centre or increase capacity of the existing centre, then the applicants will have to pay Rs 1,000 per unit of horse power.

Each individual connection will be metered and a charge of 50 paise will be levied in addition to consumption charges.

The agricultural sector -- subsidised since 1987 -- consumes a whopping 40 per cent of the total production, but the Board earns less than 20 paise per unit from the sector, against the average production cost of Rs 2.67 per unit.

After reviewing the performance of the system of metering the tatkal scheme, the Board plans to extend the system to the entire farm sector.