• Sanjeevana

Power Play

A proper electricity supply is the key to development, powering an infrastructure to attract investments, generation of employment and even winning carbon credits. It is also a means of power play. Government policy decisions hinge on bridging the gap between demand and supply of electricity, determining viable tariff per unit and much more.

For political parties, electricity is a means to garner votes by promising free power, waiver of pending bills or regular supply, especially in rural pockets. The success of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP’s subsidy scheme on electricity bill in Delhi is a case in point.

Another example is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana –'Saubhagya scheme. It is an endeavour by the Union government to provide free electricity connections to all households (both APL and poor families) in rural areas and poor families in urban areas. Envisaged as a major push to rural electrification, the scheme’s implementation reveals it has floundered in some sectors as many beneficiaries have defaulted in paying their bills for power consumption and face the prospect of disconnection.

For successive governments, making consumers pay their bills on time has proved to be an uphill task. Year after year, discom companies send teams to disconnect illegal connections. But they are often forced to beat a hasty retreat in the face of violent retaliation by local people. Attempts to regularise illegal connections are met with failure. Camps offering sops to defaulters for one-time clearance of their pending bills by waiving interest and penalties have not proved to be a solution to the problem.

While domestic consumers, particularly in rural areas, are among the major defaulters, a large number of government departments are also in the list. According to a 2022 TOI report based on Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (DVVNL) records, in Agra division, comprising the districts of Agra, Mathura, Mainpuri and Firozabad, 15 government departments “had not cleared their bills totalling over Rs 125 crore till December 31, 2021” . The panchayati raj department and the primary education department topped the list. The police department was among those who owed less than Rs 1 crore.

Clearly, the issue is more complex pointing to a lack of political will and administrative lethargy and helplessness is taking action.

The issue of power defaulters is so deep-rooted that UP has set up special police stations that deal with only power theft cases. These ‘bijli’ thanas are swamped with cases and a fast-track justice is a far cry.

Reports on ‘bijli, pani and sadak’ (electricity, water and roads), policies and government decisions on the matter and political and administrative ramifications are part of any news copy editor’s daily routine. Therefore, prior understanding of the issues involved is a must for a copy editor. Admittedly, it will take time to grasp all the aspects of a problem. If you are alert, read the newspapers and observe your surroundings, it may give you a head start in discerning facts and figures while editing the copy you have.

(Concluded)

Written by Robina Gagerna
former Assistant News Editor - Times of India
currently Visiting Faculty at Sanjeevana

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