In what can be seen as a misunderstood case of what a strong opposition means, the opposition Naga People’s Front recently blamed the current 6-month old ruling People’s Democratic Alliance for the ‘deplorable’ power supply situation in the state. Public memory is short and the lower rungs of the NPF, who man its press bureau, decided to take advantage of this fact to blame the current ruling government for the erratic power supply. However, it may be safely assumed also that the members of the party’s press bureau were completely oblivious of the facts and figures of the power department in the state.
What the opposition party failed to acknowledge was that it was during the NPF’s government that witnessed a continuous decline in the annual allocation of funds to the department, starting during 2015-16. In that year, the allocation to the department dropped by about 76% when it was allocated a meagre 7.11 crore. It was met with stiff opposition from the department’s engineers who claimed that the requirement was INR 140 crore. The allocation was just 5% of the actual required funds. This trend of just allocating 4-5% of the actual required fund continued till 2017-18. The continuous criticism against the government’s policy and the far-reaching negative effects of such a trend that was highlighted by the experts were completely ignored by the then NPF-led DAN government. It was only in 2018-19 that the present government increased the allocation to INR 19 crore from the previous year’s allocation of INR 9 crore.
It is an accepted fact that the department of Power was never in good shape except during the initial years after statehood. The rise in demand due to urbanization—but poor collection of revenue and loss during transmission—led to deterioration of the electricity supply situation in the state. During the department’s 50 year anniversary in 2015, it was announced that the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) loss in the state was 68%, mainly due to the high percentage of either under billing or non-billing; it led to a big gap in revenue and expenditure which in turn led to poor power supply. In other words, poor planning and poor implementation can be attributed as the two main factors leading to the current state of electricity supply in the state.
If the power scenario has to improve in the state, proper maintenance with either refurbishment or replacement of the age-old equipment is necessary. Better protection of the workers of the department, life insurance covers better than any other department, is required too. Political parties whether it be the NPF, or the NDPP, or other parties, should start a pledge for their party workers to ensure honest and correct use of electricity. No electricity theft from the transmission lines, no bypass of electricity meters for use in air conditioners and motors; proper payment of bills etc., can be some of the starters. Instead of the empty rhetoric, is any of the political party bold enough to start such a movement?
