Kerala Assembly demands withdrawal of Electricity(Amendment) Bill; highlights key points

Upset with the passage of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2021 by the central government in the parliament, the Kerala Assembly collectively passed a resolution on Thursday, August 5, demanding the withdrawal of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021. The state electricity minister K Krishnankutty moved the resolution in the assembly which is proposed to be present in the parliament.Before moving the resolution in the parliament, the state electricity minister said,

"Central government failed to discuss with states about the electricity amendment bill and was unable to reach a consensus. As both the Centre and the state governments have the right to make laws in the matter of power distribution, the Centre should be committed to discuss the matter with states and reach a consensus. That is cooperative federalism."

The key points of the resolution

K Krishnankutty expressed his concern about losing the powers of state government in the power distribution sector. He said, "This bill enables private companies to enter into the 'power distribution sector'. Notably, no license is required to enter the power distribution sector. The state government or electricity regulatory commission would not have any control over these companies. The central government will decide the criteria for entering private companies into this sector. This amendment will take away all powers of state government in the sector." While reading out the resolution in the parliament, the minister said,

"With this bill, the private companies would not have any obligation to invest in this sector nor laying new electricity lines to carrying electricity or maintainence. They can use the existing lines to carry electricity for their business. This will help the private companies to stop their operations if they fail to collect targetted profits. This will create uncertainity in the power distribution sector."

Moreover, the Kerala minister also highlighted the key point of the resolution. He said that if the private companies prioritize high-end clients, then it will become the responsibility of the public sector to provide electricity to the poor section of society. Gradually, this scenario will increase the burden on the public sector and automatically, will lead to its destruction. Further, the resolution informed, "With the Centre enters into the power sector, the right of power distribution which was with the state earlier would lie in the hands of the Centre. This would undermine the federal principles."

Apart from Kerala Assembly, the power sector employees and engineers have also decided to protest their disapproval against the bill, by holding a 4-day ‘Satyagrah’ on Jantar Mantar Delhi, which started on Tuesday, August 3. The protest was organized by the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees & Engineers (NCCOEEE) as they wanted the bill to be thoroughly discussed in the ongoing monsoon session of the Parliament before it is passed as a law. 

(With ANI inputs)

(IMAGE: @KKRISHNANKUTTY4/TWITTER/PTI)