Unfair Power Cost Hike

The Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) has decided to hike the power tariff once again from the present rate by 74 paise from Rs 7.36 per unit to Rs 8.10 per unit. This increase in power tariff is happening too frequently. The power tariff gets raised in Assam even two or three times a year. This periodic increase in the tariff for general consumers has now become an index of inefficiency of the APDCL. At present the APDCL is running with a loss of Rs 598.65 crore. This can be attributed to two obvious factors. The first relates to the revenue receipts of the APDCL. There are numerous government departments that have used electricity for years and not paid for it. The failure of government departments to pay their electricity dues regularly is one of the main reasons why the APDCL is always short of funds. Viewed dispassionately, this constitutes a sabotage of the APDCL by government departments. The other reason for the cost of generating power increasing constantly is that our bureaucrats have turned their backs on the imperative of generating more power for a rapidly growing population. They have completely abandoned planning for power for a rapidly increasing population during the last five or six decades. As a result, we have had to depend on small units that make power generation much costlier. This is the high cost of inefficiency. Bureaucrats get away with it because we fail to protest strongly enough.