The Hindu : National : "Selection of power regulators not transparent''

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 05, 2006

National

National

"Selection of power regulators not transparent''

Staff Reporter

Suggestion to mobilise corrective action for better governance

The report uses a comprehensive tool kit that asks relevant and pertinent questions relating to processes and institutions in the power sector

NEW DELHI: A report on the state of governance in India's electricity sector, released here on Thursday by Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy, points out that while the processes for selection of regulators in the country lack transparency, the civil society also woefully lacks in capacity to take advantage of the participatory spaces provided by independent regulation.

The report, `Electricity Sector Governance in India: An Analysis of Institutions and Practice', has been prepared after 15 months of investigation into institutions and practices in the power sector.

A "scorecard'' of sorts on governance, it notes that policy-making in India's electricity sector is expert-driven with very little participation from the public who eventually bear the brunt of these policies.

Stating that there are no foolproof provisions in rules and procedures in place to prevent conflict of interest among policy-makers, whether they are legislative committee members or bureaucrats, the report points out that while regulatory hardware in terms of statutory authority, autonomy and remit is robust, there remain other areas of concern.

Co-ordinated by Sudha Mahalingam at the Centre for Policy Research, the study was conducted by three non-government organisations active in power sector policies and regulation -- Citizen, Consumer and Civic Action Group, Chennai, Centre for Environmental Concerns, Hyderabad, and Praja, New Delhi.

At the release function, Ms. Roy lauded the authors of the report showing the state of governance in the power sector and suggested that a simplified version be also brought out for those who could mobilise corrective action for better governance.

"This report is a good starting point, but unless the campaign for better governance is taken to the finish, it could make matters worse,'' she said.

The report uses a comprehensive tool kit that asks relevant and pertinent questions relating to processes and institutions in the power sector.

The toolkit, developed by World Resources Institute, Washington, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, and Prayas Energy Group, Pune, is being applied in three other Asian countries as well.

Another important aspect of the report is that it does not merely point out the fallacies in the system, it also has a set of concrete recommendations emanating from the findings and conclusions.

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