The people must seek the views of the candidates of different political parties relating to the power sector before voting, as to get electricity is their right, said Shailendra Dubey Chairman of of India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) in his address at the online meeting held on Sunday evening to discuss the role of workers and peasants during current Lok Sabha elections.
Dubey said that the electricity (amendment ) bill is a plot to hand over the entire power sector to corporate houses. The people's representatives must ensure that the proposed bill is not passed in Parliament. They should also oppose the compulsory use of imported coal for thermal plants so that the burden of imported coal is not passed on to common consumers. The use of the transmission network of state Discoms by private companies as per the proposal for their entry into power sector business should be opposed by the candidates seeking votes from them.
The candidates should specify their clear-cut views of the proposed smart meters scheme of the central government and how they will ensure that the financial conditions of Discoms do not further deteriorate.
The average cost of power has risen from Rs.5.03 per unit in 2013-14 and has increased to Rs.7 per unit. The increase in cost is mainly due to privatization of the power sector. In Mumbai, the per unit cost for those consumers using more than 500 units has been raised to Rs.15.71 per unit. Even for consumers using 100 units of power tariff has been raised to Rs.5.37 per unit. The farmers using a 7.5 HP motor for four hours daily without any subsidy will be forced to pay Rs. 10000 per month. The tariff should be decided by the capacity to pay by the consumer and not by market forces. Moreover, every political party is promising free power to a section of consumers.
Agenda for 2024 elections-people should seek candidate views on privatization of power sector- AIPEF spokesperson V K Gupta said that the Hannan Mollah General Secretary All India Kisan Morcha, Kanwarjeet Singh BKU(Ugrahan), Buta Singh BKU (Dakaunda), Krishan Bhoyar Dy. General Secretary AIFEE, . S P Singh, Gen Secretary AILRSA, and Santosh Kumar of the Majdoor Ekta committee were amongst the other speakers who addressed the online meeting.