: Opinion: Free power, don’t arm-twist States #IndiaNEWS #News By Dr Ranjith Reddy It appears that the Union government is hell-bent to undo what Thomas Edison dreamt of. Edison wanted to make electricity

Opinion: Free power, don’t arm-twist States #IndiaNEWS #News
By Dr Ranjith Reddy
It appears that the Union government is hell-bent to undo what Thomas Edison dreamt of. Edison wanted to make electricity so cheap that only the rich burn candles. But, the move of the Modi government appears to undo the noble objective that the inventor of incandescent electric light has for mankind.
Even though we are a Union of States, the federal structure is the heart and soul of the Indian Union. The Union being given a larger share of the cake in the form of Union List and Concurrent List does not mean that it can bulldoze States. This is not cooperative federalism, the leitmotif of Prime Minister Narendra Modi; rather, it is a Machiavellian attitude.
Many Infirmities
The proposed Electricity Bill is one of many such whips with which the Modi government wants to control the democratically elected State governments. States would be willing to go along with Union if the proposal benefits the poor and farmers. But, it is not; and, it is precisely the reason why every single State, including the BJP-ruled ones, albeit behind the curtain, is opposing the Bill lock, stock, and barrel.
There are many infirmities in the Bill, such as:
• It paves the way for fixing meters to agriculture pumpsets
• It restricts giving free or subsidised power to farmers, poor and downtrodden
• It permits private players to supply power by using transmission network of government-owned discoms
• There is no universal power supply obligation on private distribution companies. It has to be done only by government-owned discoms
• Modi government is putting a condition that only if meters are fixed, States would be allowed to get 0. 5% additional resources under FRBM
• 20 lakh employees working in the government power sector would lose their jobs if this Bill becomes an Act
Let us look at how the above will impact farmers, marginalised sections and the poor.
Piecemeal
The Power Minister says the amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003, are not piecemeal but comprehensive. But, in reality, it is piecemeal. Let me give an example of how the Modi government is manoeuvring and selectively amending the parent Act. The Centre issued a directive – the Telangana CM too mentioned this in a discussion recently in the Assembly – saying that meters should be fixed to agriculture pumpsets.
It says that no connection shall be given without a meter and such meter shall be a smart pre-payment meter. It means, without fixing a prepaid smart meter, no power connection should be given. And, the argument of the BJP leader in the Assembly that there is no such move by the Modi government is nothing but tweaking the facts, and his theory is far from the truth.