Conspiracy to scuttle Tamil Nadu's efforts to end power cut

In the past two decades there has been tremendous increase in demand for electricity for domestic, commercial, agricultural, industrial and other purposes in Tamilnadu. Nevertheless, in 2004-05, Tamil Nadu was one of the few Indian States with surplus electricity generation capacity, enabling the electricity authority to sell it to States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. But in 2011, the situation was completely different and power cut caused untold sufferings to the people.  In fact, in the past few years, Tamil Nadu has been facing been facing acute shortage of power supply. The demand for electricity climbed steeply and reached 11,000 to 11,500 MW in 2011. But no worthwhile efforts were made during 2006-11 to augment power generation capacity.  For instance, during the period from 2005-06 to 2010-11, a generation capacity of only 206 MW has been added to the grid.  But during the year 2011-12, a capacity of 127.5 MW has been added to the State grid. During 2012-13 the generation capacity has increase substantially due to the efforts taken by the Government under the dynamic leadership of Tamilnadu.

In order to find a way out of the shortage of power, the State Government approached the Central government for support. But the Central Government not only remained mute to the demand for higher allocation of power from central grid, but also failed to provide adequate facilities for bringing power from surplus States and private power producers, citing lack of transmission route to bring power to Tamil Nadu. The Centre did not agree to the request to supply the power generated by the centrally-funded power stations in the State, including that from the shortly to be commissioned Kudankulam nuclear power plant, as an interim arrangement.  Moreover, for reasons best known to it, the Centre flatly refused to supply the excess power of 1,491 MW proposed to be surrendered by Delhi. For instance, the power transmitted from Tamil Nadu to other States from the centrally funded power plants could have been diverted to the State grid and instead, the surplus power from Delhi could have been supplied to Karnataka or other States.

Recently, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J.Jayalalithaa has assured that soon Tamil Nadu will become an electricity surplus state. The Chief Minister said: “Last year, when I said Tamil Nadu will become power surplus, everyone laughed at us. Today, we have achieved 99 per cent of the target. Very soon, Tamil Nadu will be power surplus. There is no power cut for MSMEs. For high tension consumers, the power cut during the peak hours has been slashed from 40 per cent to 20 per cent.” Taking into account the spate of schemes being implemented to augment power generation in the State, in all possibility Tamil Nadu will become a power surplus state by 2015.

The statement released by the Chief Minister yesterday, one could infer that there is a conspiracy to scuttle the efforts of Tamil Nadu government to end power cut completely by the end of this year and make it power surplus State soon. Everybody knows that the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu is one who hardly ever makes falls allegations and exaggerated statements. Simultaneous poor performance by the Central PSUs causing shortfall in power supply is rather incomprehensible. According to  Tamilnadu Chief Minister: “It appears to be a very strange coincidence that while all the existing 12 thermal units of Tangendco are generating up to full capacity, the central generating stations and the joint venture unit are all performing dismally, simultaneously. This has resulted in widespread load shedding again in the state, which was free from load shedding till the first fortnight of November, 2013.” Thus the continued poor performance by Central Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), resulting in a shortfall in power supply, makes us to believe that there is  a “concerted conspiracy.”

Therefore, the people of Tamilnadu are quite agitated about the disruptive attitude of the Centre. The attitude and actions of the central government are condemnable. It is the constitutional duty of the Prime Minister of India and the Cabinet headed by him to intervene strongly in case of a crisis in any state. But it is unconstitutional and unreasonable to deliberately cutting production at central power generating stations at around 2,500 Mw and deprive Tami Nadu its legitimate share of supply of energy from central sector. The Prime Minister should rise above partisan attitude and take necessary steps to rectify the wrong step.

 Anyway, the Tamil Nadu government is very serious to end power cut in the State.  Taking stock of the overall situation, it is believed that there will be marked improvement in power supply by the end of 2013 and that there will be an end to power cut and make it a power surplus state by the end of 2014. 
Dr.C.Murukadas, Business Standard, 27th November, 2013

Hawkers moved out from Pondy Bazaar

Obstruction of traffic and pedestrians and causing hindrance to shops by roadside/pavement vendors have become contentious issues in cities and towns all over the country. Thousands of street/pavement vendors/hawkers have come up all over the cities/towns particularly in big cities encroaching upon pavements and roadsides with political patronage and connivance of corrupt officials. The encroachment of roadsides and pavements by hawkers/vendors cause obstruction to the shop keepers leading to clash between regular shopkeepers and hawkers. Sometimes road-side stall owners also fight over occupying a space. In some cases they become law unto themselves with political patronage and as a result regulation becomes difficult. In many cases, the local authorities have removed the encroachments by hawkers. But after some days they return to the same spot. Even intervention by the Courts has produced nil results. For instance, in the busy business centre of Pondy Bazaar in T. Nagar, Chennai, hawkers have set up business on roadsides and pavements causing obstruction to the shopkeepers, besides causing traffic problems and inconvenience to the pedestrians. Pavement on both sides of the entire stretch of Pondy Bazaar has been occupied by hawkers obstructing traffic, pedestrian movement, besides causing great inconvenience to shopkeepers. The pedestrians invariably are edged out. Such a situation in which the shops encroach upon the space meant for pedestrians, thereby forcing them to use the carriageway is not particular to Pondy Bazaar alone, but a problem confronting the entire city. Based on complaints from shopkeepers and pedestrians, the corporation authorities removed the encroachments with police protection on many times, but the hawkers have returned with redoubled vigour. Finally, it seems that the traders have been forced to vacate the pavement shops and move into the three-storey shopping complex built for their benefit by Chennai Corporation on Thyagaraya Road. After more than two decades pedestrians in Pondy Bazaar got a glimpse of what the area would look like without the ubiquitous footpath shops.Shop owners believe the removal of hawkers will improve their business But the shopkeepers as well as pedestrians are skeptical about shops but we don’t what will happen tomorrow. Similarly, the roadside and pavement of the entire stretch of NSC Bose road was encroached by hawkers. But the corporation authorities have recently cleared them on the orders of the Madras High Court in a Public Interest Litigation filed against the encroachments. Yet encroachments by hawkers are still visible here and there. The attempt by the Chennai Corporation to rehabilitate the hawkers in alternative locations and multi-storeyed Complexes has not yielded any discernible result.

Legalise and Regulate Street Vending for Harmonious Development of Cities

Legalise and Regulate Street Vending  for Harmonious Development of Cities

 The 21^st century has been dubbed the “Century of the City”. Half of the world’s population already lives in urban areas and by the middle of this century most regions of the developing world will be predominantly urban. The State of the World’s Cities 2008/9 adopted the concept of “Harmonious Cities” as a theoretical framework in order to understand today’s urban world, and also as an operational tool to confront the most important challenges facing urban areas and their development processes. One of the most important challenges facing the cities in the developing world such as India is the failure to provide adequate opportunities for gainful employment higher earnings and the consequent emergence of the informal sector with low earnings and insecurity.

 In India, the cities have become hot spots of conflict among various stakeholders of the city economies leading to tension and disharmony. One of the most visible threat to harmony stems from the growing conflict arising out of the proliferation of street vendors or hawkers in urban areas. Street vending or hawking has come under savage attack. Municipal officials, city planners, police, civic activists, and journalists describe hawkers as a “nuisance” and “encroachers of public space”. They are seen to represent the chaos of the cities/towns and streets/lanes, besides the cause of the notorious congestion, filth and disorder. As a result, for most street vendors, trading from the road margins or pavements is full of uncertainties. At the same time, vendors’ organisations, social activists and protagonists of human rights have expressed their anguish over the maltreatment and harassment of street vendors.

The street vendors want them to be legalised and thereby to save them from constant threat of eviction, harassment and rent seeking (bribery) by the civic personnel and the police, besides the ire of the public and the shopkeepers. It is right time to put an end the escalation of the conflict between hawkers and other stake holders of the city. The only way to halt the growing conflict is to legalise street vending or hawking so that the vendors can carry on trading quietly with a sense of confidence. Nevertheless their operations have to be suitably regulated so as to limit the menace of traffic obstruction, inconvenience to commuters/pedestrians, nuisance to shopkeepers, besides to lessen damage to the splendor of the cities. Anyway, it is right time to end this conflict so as to ensure harmony. The announcement of the National    Policy on Street Vendors (2009) and the subsequent introduction of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill (2012) are considered as steps towards regulation of street vending in public areas and protecting the rights of street vendors. But the implementation of the National Policy by the State governments and local bodies are said to be tardy and unenthusiastic. Anyhow, it is believed that when the Bill becomes Law there will be significant transformation.

Why there is little to cheer about economy

Many of the economies around the world are in an unstable situation. It is feared that   continued recession in Europe and other parts of the world would be felt around the world. India can’t completely insulate its economy from the crisis in other economies because the integration of its economy with the rest of the world because of liberalisation and globalisation. Therefore, the reports that growth rate of the country may be below the anticipated level is not surprising. Nevertheless it has to be borne in mind that the impact of world economic crisis is not severe in our country compared to European nations. That is not to sate that we can be complacent. However, we have to move cautiously with neo-liberal economic reform. That is, there is a strong   case for India to abandon neo-liberal policies and for continuing an interventionist policy, which would insulate the country to a larger extent from external shocks.  It has to be noted that for the common people, who form the bulk of the population, growth rates have no meaning or any relevance because they are seldom benefited by higher growth rates. It is a fact that a greater proportion of the benefits of higher growth goes to only the upper strata of the society Moreover corruption and black money are the serious scourges facing India, which are acting as a road block to ensure inclusive growth and development of the country. Corruption and black money are also the root cause of growing inequality and deprivation. Huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them through corruption and money laundering. If this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India, the entire foreign debt can be liquidated. And after paying the entire foreign debt, India will have huge resources to invest in development programmes and welfare measures. Dependence on FDI can be substantially reduced. If corruption is controlled, generation of black money can be controlled to a large extent. Of course, for significant dent on corruption and black money there should be change in the mind set of politicians, bureaucrats and the public. The government has to take determined efforts to root out corruption and black money, besides taking steps to  reinvigorating the economy.

NDTV, Profit, September 13,2013.

Food Security Act

With the assent given by President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, on Thursday, 12the September 2013, the Food Security Bill has become a law of the land and thereby enforceable.The Bill aims to provide subsidised food grains to around 67 percent of India's 1.25 billion people. As per the provisions of the bill,beneficiaries would get rice at Rs.3/kg,wheat at Rs 2/kg, and coarse grains at Rs 1/kg. These rates would be valid for three years. Every pregnant woman and lactating mother would get free meal during pregnancy till six months after child birth. They will also get a maternity benefit of Rs.6,000 in installments. Children up to 14 years would get free meals. In case of non-supply of food grains, states will have to pay food security allowance to beneficiaries. The Bill was passed with rejecting more than 300 amendments in Lok Sabha on 26 August 2013 and Rajya Sabha on September 2, 2013.
The common opinion is that while the Food Security Bill will be a great boon to the beneficiaries, it would be a big burden on the economy. The Food Security Bill is indeed recognition of the fact that even after more than 6 decades of planned economic development a vast majority of the people are unable to meet their daily minimum food requirements. Although the country has achieved remarkable growth in output and income, a greater proportion of the benefits of economic development have gone to a small section of the population. In fact, it is the outcome of growing inequality in the distribution of income and wealth due particularly to the pro-rich policies pursued by the government in the name of economic reforms ( i.e. liberalisation and globalisation) especially since 1991 A vast majority of the people are unable to buy enough food grains and other essential requirement due to lack of income. These people are unable to earn adequate income for their sustenance due to their inability to get gainful employment opportunities with enough income. That is, we have not been able to provide gainful employment opportunities to millions of people. Had we been able to provide gainful employment opportunities to all the job seekers, the question of food security would not have arisen. Economic development has no meaning except in terms of better employment and higher wages. Moreover, no individual will desire to live on charity either by the government or by private organisations/individuals. Everyone wants to lead an honourable life with better employment and higher wages. 

Provision of food security is only a stop-gap arrangement. In the long run the country cannot afford to supply food grains to a vast majority of the people at subsidised rates or free of cost. It is not improper or impossible for the Government to raise nearly Rs.1.2 lakh crore rupees needed for ensuring food security under the Food Security Act (2013). The claim that fall the passing of the Food Security Bill will accentuate fall in the value of Indian rupee against American dollar or depress market sentiments is unfounded. But diversion of such a vast amount for unproductive investment in ensuring food supply to individuals is a definitely a burden on the economy year after year. In the long run the investment in ensuring food security may be productive in terms of better health of the people. But in the short run it is a great burden on the economy. The diversion of such a huge amount will entitle dearth of funds for other sectors such as infrastructure, education, health and housing, which will lead to further deterioration in these spheres.
Hindustan Times, September 13, 2013.

Fifth reservoir to cater to Chennai's water needs

Chief Minister Dr.J. Jayalalithaa is a visionary leader with profound concern for the welfare of the people. Because of the various steps initiated by her the Chennai city is able to solve the drinking water supply of Chennai City to a large extent. Chennai is mostly dependent on the ground water supply. Chennai's drinking water is supplied with reservoirs/lakes in Poondi, Sholavaram, Veeranam, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam. The Veeranam Water Supply Project was implemented by Chief Minister Dr.J. Jayalalithaa as additional source of water to Chennai City. The Project was commissioned in the year 2004 to supply 180 MLD of water to Chennai City by drawing water from Veeranam Lake. This lake receives water from Cauvery River system through Kollidam, Lower Anicut and Vadavar Canal besides rainwater from its own catchment area. The Veeranam scheme enabled the City to tide over acute water shortage in the city on many a times. In order to further augment the growing need for water to the city, the  need meet the drinking water requirements of Chennai, Chief minister has  laid the foundation stone for the Rs 330 crore project involving linking of two lakes in Kannankottai and Thervoykandigai villages in neighbouring Thiruvallur.  A total of 1000 mcft (one tmcft) of water could be stored in this reservoir by filling it up twice a year. The reservoir will be used to store water received from the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh under an agreement with that state besides the rainwater received during monsoon seasons This schme will go a long way to augment the supply of drinking water to the city and its suburbs. Still  there is a wide gap between the demand and supply of water in the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA). But there is wide scope for augmenting the water requirements of CMA by rejuvenating the numerous lakes and ponds in this region. In fact, this region has the distinction of having the largest number of a network of lakes, ponds and estuaries in Tamilnadu. As urbanisation proceeded, many of the lakes and tanks have been destroyed to pave way for human settlement. And only a few lakes and tanks are remaining in the area Chennai City covering the city corporation limits. But reports show that these remaining lakes and ponds are being encroached upon by real estate developers and small communities. The public works department as well as local bodies have been mute spectators to the pernicious practice of encroachment of such as lakes and tanks and other water bodies. The suburban areas of CMA are estimated to have more than 3000 lakes and ponds. Although many of these  lakes and tanks are not important for agricultural requirements because of the decline farming activates due to urbanisation,  their preservation and  restoration are vital for meeting the rapidly growing demand for water in the city for domestic, industrial, commercial and other requirements. But it is saddening to note that most of these lakes and tanks are in danger of ruin due to encroachment by real estate tycoons with political patronage and official connivance. Corruption and bribery are the root causes of such mindless ruin of water bodies. The concerned officials are silent spectators of encroachment and spoil of water bodies  for they are able to fill their pockets with the illegal gratification received from the encroachers. It is gratifying to note that the government has at last woken up and plans are afoot to protect and restore the tanks and lakes   situated in the CMA. Agriculture still continues to be an important source of livelihoods in many areas of CMA. Therefore, the protection and maintenance of the lakes and tanks are important for sustain the livelihood of the remaining farmers. Moreover, the population of Chennai City and its suburbs are going to witness enormous growth of population. It is estimated that the population of Chennai City is expected to reach the 10 million mark by 2021.  So the preservation of these lakes and ponds is quite essential for meeting the demand for water for different purposes for the growing population. Moreover, restoration of the water bodies is essential to improve the local ecology and public spaces.  The plan to involve local people in the restoration projects is a good idea. The Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust, which is entrusted with the restoration of lakes and ponds, should be strengthened with more staff and adequate funds. The government should prepare a master plan to restore and preserve all water bodies in CMA as well as in rest of the state.
The Times of India, September 13, 2013.