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Haryana engineers oppose privatisation of power distribution November 17, 2018

Posted On : December 10, 2018

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Power Engineers Association has strongly opposed  the  ongoing process of privatisation of  power distribution companies  in Odisha.

K D Bansal President of Association said that the Association has urged the chief minister to  advise the power department to desist any move to privatise the power sector which is the backbone of devolpment in the state.

Odisha was the first state in India to go for privatisation of power distribution and the this  experiment of privatisation of power sector failed  miserably and this is well known to one and all. The  electricity supply licences of  three private  distribution companies  were cancelled by the regulator due to non performance and inefficiency.

It may be mentioned that Odisha power engineers in association with electricity employees are  jointly opposing  the move to re-privatise the power sector  and may resort to agitation.

The Association  hope that  privatization process of power sector in Odisha  will be halted in the larger interest of the state and power sector of the country.

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The purpose of the central government is not to review or revise the existing National Electricity Policy but the total replacement of existing policy with a new policy to be recommended by the expert group so as to achieve privatization, the body alleged. As per Electricity Act 2003, National Electricity Policy is to be prepared in consultation with the state governments and Central Electricity Authority (CEA), a statutory body. However, the body said that the CEA is not included in the proposed schedule of discussion. Further, only 5 states have been included in an expert group instead of all the states, it added. K Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, has stated that India is the only country that readily implemented a slew of reforms and used this crisis to herald a change in India''s economic thinking, it said. The strategy of government seems to be “never waste a crisis” and use the crisis of pandemic to streamroll so-called reforms by way of privatizing, it alleged. The draft proposal is of serious nature for which the present situation of a pandemic is a serious constraint, it stated. The Ministry of Power has once again found peak pandemic time as an opportunity in crisis to launch the draft amendments to National Electricity Policy, it lamented. Once the draft policy is finalised, the notified policy would have the status of “subordinate legislation”, and for this reason, the matters need to deliberate as in the case of the legislation itself or as in the case of amendment in the Act itself, it opined. Draft national electricity policy is pushing for more private participation in the power sector and launching sell out of public assets as at Chandigarh and Dadra Nagar Haveli, it noted. The preferred route being suggested are failed models like the franchisee system, transferring distribution responsibility to a private party, and separation of carriage (lines) and content (supply) business, it opined. Since the existing Policy is in force since February 2005 there was no emergency to totally replace it, while power engineers and workers as front line workers are already stressed in maintaining power continuity, it added All India Power Engineers Federation on Tuesday condemned the central government''s move to amend the National Electricity Policy "to facilitate privatisation". According to a statement by the AIPEF, the proposed changes require extensive discussions as such time for submission of comments should be six months. When fundamental changes are being introduced by way of privatization of the power sector, there is no basis to rush through more so under extreme distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it said. "All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) condemns the government of India''s move to amend the National Electricity Policy to facilitate the privatization of the power sector," the statement said. The body alleged that this is a clear attempt to introduce privatization through the backdoor and deserves to be scrapped. The purpose of the central government is not to review or revise the existing National Electricity Policy but the total replacement of existing policy with a new policy to be recommended by the expert group so as to achieve privatization, the body alleged. As per Electricity Act 2003, National Electricity Policy is to be prepared in consultation with the state governments and Central Electricity Authority (CEA), a statutory body. However, the body said that the CEA is not included in the proposed schedule of discussion. Further, only 5 states have been included in an expert group instead of all the states, it added. K Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, has stated that India is the only country that readily implemented a slew of reforms and used this crisis to herald a change in India''s economic thinking, it said. The strategy of government seems to be “never waste a crisis” and use the crisis of pandemic to streamroll so-called reforms by way of privatizing, it alleged. The draft proposal is of serious nature for which the present situation of a pandemic is a serious constraint, it stated. The Ministry of Power has once again found peak pandemic time as an opportunity in crisis to launch the draft amendments to National Electricity Policy, it lamented. Once the draft policy is finalised, the notified policy would have the status of “subordinate legislation”, and for this reason, the matters need to deliberate as in the case of the legislation itself or as in the case of amendment in the Act itself, it opined. Draft national electricity policy is pushing for more private participation in the power sector and launching sell out of public assets as at Chandigarh and Dadra Nagar Haveli, it noted. The preferred route being suggested are failed models like the franchisee system, transferring distribution responsibility to a private party, and separation of carriage (lines) and content (supply) business, it opined. Since the existing Policy is in force since February 2005 there was no emergency to totally replace it, while power engineers and workers as front line workers are already stressed in maintaining power continuity, it added
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