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Wednesday, Sep 08, 2004

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Demand for JPC to look into Electricity Act

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 7. Power sector employees have demanded the restoration of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 as, according to them, the new Electricity Act, 2003 had failed to address the core concerns, including the cost of electricity, customer satisfaction and rural electrification.

A delegation of employees, led by the CPI general secretary, A.B. Bardhan, and the CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, E. Balanandan, met the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, today and demanded the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to examine the Electricity Act in a time-bound manner.

`Place before JPC'

"The consequences of implementing the Act, particularly on rural electrification, the removal of cross-subsidy and subsidy should be brought out and placed before the JPC," Mr. Bardhan told reporters after the meeting.

The old Act was a time-tested legislation that had enabled growth and development of the electrical power supply industry, the delegation told Dr. Singh while suggesting amendments to the new Act in view of the intention expressed in the common minimum programme (CMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to review the Act. The Prime Minister has already favoured a review of the Act.

Affordable power

Demanding that the service to the customer and extension of supply to rural areas should be the principal objective of the Act and not privatisation and development of private market, the delegation — through a memorandum — said delivering power at affordable prices by optimising generation at the least cost was equally important.

"Ensuring that the wealth and assets created by the Indian people is not taken over by the Indian and foreign monopolies and there should be a balance between the Centre and the States in the federal structure of India as envisaged in the Constitution. Cross-subsidies should continue in the tariff formulation subject to an upper limit beyond which it will have to be direct subsidy from the Government and the tariff should be fixed by the Governments concerned with regulatory authorities only responsible for an equitable implementation of such policies," the memorandum said.

For the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the delegation said it should be the repository of technical excellence in India so as to enable it to prepare a National Power Plan, provide technical support to the Regulatory Commissions and apprise the techno-economic viability of generation and transmission projects.

Performance review

The delegation comprised members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyut Mazdoor Sangh, All-India Federation of Power Diploma Engineers, National Working Group on Power Sector, All-India Federation of Electricity Employees, All-India Power Engineers Federation and the Electricity Employees Federation of India. They came together under the banner of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers.

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