Friday, January 24, 2014

The Fall

The object accelerated purposefully towards its unknown destination, displacing millions of air molecules. A windy spring morning had coaxed it out of its home in the skies, on a course to cause hurt and history.


Fortunately (?) the journey was cut short, hitting a young lad's head with some force. "Ouch!", cried a startled Newton.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Mr. Kejriwal's power struggle

                The decision of the newly-sworn Aam Aadmi Party government regarding slashing of power bills by 50% for consumers, by offering to finance it through a government subsidy clearly shows that they stand to offer nothing new in terms of radically new governance.

There has been long allegations and protest by people of Delhi that they are being overcharged by distribution companies. The present CM himself, in his more radical days, went around tearing off power bills, asking people to not pay their bills. But an important issue has been glossed over in the name of rallying against the alleged "corporate harassment" of power companies. The fact of the matter is this – Delhi is largely seen as the power theft colony of India. Estimates vary, but the AT&C (Accumulated Transmission and Commercial losses) in distribution ranges from a staggering 30-50%! These are essentially from people, illegal housing colonies putting a hook on power lines and drawing power, without paying. Imagine, if 100MW is available for distribution, the company can't recover costs on this 30-50%. So essentially, they can recover the full cost on only 50% of the electricity they distribute. This leads to a pricey bill for middle-class consumers who are regularised/metered consumers. This illegal power theft is politically patronised. It is not a practice common to Delhi alone but a common fact of life across India.

                
        So, Mr.Kejriwal instead of offering to take institutional measures to curb this spurious theft has followed the oldest trick in Socialism 101. Offer subsidies. Train people to pay less for what costs more in the market. The problem is once people get used to this artificially supported cheap power, it is very hard to get them to pay as per market realities – check the issue of Petrol deregulation for starters. While his steps towards forcing companies to a CAG audit is welcome, he should go ahead for a Social Audit for all parts of Delhi and take strict action against people drawing illegal power. That would truly be a step in the right direction to help the Aam Aadmi.