Karnataka Power Muddle

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Sunday, February 25, 2007

Please step aside!

text of the letter sent to the press:

From the reports appearing in the press, as also our recent experiences, the incapacity of the government to manage the power scenario, which is fast assuming crisis proportions, seems very obvious. Each of the ministers concerned is just passing the buck, with not one having any clue as to how to face the situation, either in the short term or the long. The question that arises very simply is whether it has to reach total break-down levels before the government is pushed to privatising. There are enough cities in the country - Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Surat, Greater Noida, to name a few, where private companies have been managing the job fairly well for many years now, and that is all that we in Bangalore care. Please invite them to take over!

Agricultural sector load is just a convenient scape-goat being used by the government agencies involved to mask their poor planning and management. If they are genuinely interested in solving the problems of the rural sector, there are good models there too worthy of emulation - like that of the Hukeri Co-op Society in our own Belgaum district.

And, to ensure equity to all the stake-holders concerned, there is the KERC ( Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission).