Port Blair, Dec 28: Mr. Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Member of Parliament has expressed concern on the decision of the Central Government to privatise the Electricity Department of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Mr. Sharma in letter addressed to the Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India has stated that, the decision of the Central Government to privatise the Electricity Department has caused great sense of resentment and agony to the employees of the Electricity Department and also to the entire Islanders for various obvious and genuine reasons.
Mr. Sharma emphasised that growing unemployment in Islands is a major concern for the Islanders because of lack of sufficient employment opportunities in the region especially given high literacy rate among the Islands’ population.In absence of major private industries in the Islands capable of providing appreciable employment opportunities to the Islanders, the Andaman and Nicobar Administration certainly serve as major and most reliable source of providing employment to the Islanders through out the Islands’ territory . Mr. Sharma pointed out that this sector also however has reached its saturation limit.
Mr. Sharma stated that, Tourism is certainly an upcoming industry in the Islands which provides employment/self employment opportunities to the Islanders but the same is also subjected to frequent set back for instance due to Tsunami of year 2004 there was marked reduction in tourists visiting Islands for quite a long period and now it is badly suffering due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
The MP said that due to geographical remoteness of Islands and separation by sea from mainland India, the islanders find it difficult to go to mainland India in search of livelihood leaving behind their family in these far flung Islands. Also the government appointments in other States of India is opposed to islanders due to domicile criteria being imposed by the State governments. Now with the proposed privatization of the Electricity Department which in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is solely responsible for power supply right from generation including power purchase from private entities and PSU, transmission & distribution (T&D) and having its presence in all inhabited Islands, not only 3000 odd employees ( including unfilled posts) of the Electricity Department but rather islanders as a whole are going to lose government job and will have to face exploitation by the private electricity distribution companies ( Discoms). Mr. Sharma opined that , it is quite obvious that the Discoms being the private entities whose core purpose being profit making will not only curtail jobs, pay less remuneration but will also enforce ‘hire and fire’ policy in engagement, thereby bringing uncertainty in employment in these Islands which is already subjected to high rate of unemployment.
Kuldeep in his communique to PM has further expressed apprehension regarding increase in tarrif with privatization. He said that in Andaman and Nicobar Islands the power generation is predominantly through Diesel Generators ( 93% of total power generated) and for this reason the cost of production of electricity or rather the actual cost of electric supply is quite higher when compared to the other States and Union Territories (barring few like Lakshadweep who also uses DGs for power generation) where major power generation is done through hydroelectric generators which is comparatively much cheaper mode of power generation when compared to Diesel Generators. Mr.Sharma stated that, it is due to high cost of production of electricity and other socioeconomic factors prevailing in the Islands, the Electricity Department of A&N Administration is adequately funded by the Central Government on the basis of recommendations of Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) to bridge the gap between the actual average cost of supply and the average billing cost of supply payable by the consumers, which in the year 2019-20 was Rs.18.46/- and Rs.20.55/-for the year 2020-21 as approved by the JERC . The gap funding is done by the Central Government to ensure that the electricity supplied to various strata / cross-section of consumer ranging from Domestic, Industrial, Commercial, Government etc. are at affordable rates. Nevertheless, with the privatisation of Electricity Department and with the induction of private Discoms through competitive bidding process and making them responsible for transmission, distribution and billing for electric power supplied to the consumers without subsidy & cross subsidy and Government passing on subsidy as Direct Benifit Transfer (DBT) to the consumer, the Islanders are very much apprehensive of increasing the electricity tarrif many fold .
Mr. Sharma said, further unlike several other States and Union Territories, in these Islands 52% of the total electricity produced are consumed by the domestic consumers there by making the domestic consumers as major revenue payer. Hence, private Discoms to make their business profitable will be targeting major revenue payer which in case of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is domestic consumer therefore, privatisation of electricity department will most adversely affect domestic consumers.
Mr. Kuldeep Rai Sharma also highlighted that despite the Geographical, topographical and environmental constraints the employees of Electricity Department are very well capable to meet the power supply requirement of the Islanders. He clarified that,the Power Generation and Distribution system of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a “Stand Alone system”. The 19 inhabited Islands are provided power through 53 odd Power Houses having a total installed capacity of around 145 Megawatts. Due to geographical and topographical peculiarities of these Islands including separation by sea and tropical forests over great distances, there is no single Power Grid for all electrified Islands and instead power requirement of an area is catered independently by a power houses located in the region having its independent transmission and distribution system with only exception to the South Andaman and Port Blair region which are connected to a “Nano Grid”.
Moreover, the Islands are frequently subjected to inclement weather conditions viz. torrential rain, stroms& cyclones and being located in Seismic Zone 5 very often experiences earthquakes of higher magnitudes which posses serious challenge in maintaining the power supply uninterrupted by attending to the repairs of power generation, transmission and distribution system in all Islands which are provided with electricity in such adverse conditions.
The hard work and dedication of engineers, staff and workers of the Electricity Department of A & N Administration need to be acknowledged as even in the toughest senario they are committed to work for 24X365 days to provide safe and uninterrupted power supply in all the inhabited Islands provided with electricity. For instance, when the entire Islands was disrupted and taken aback by the loss of lives and damages to infrastructures inflicted by the disastrous Tsunami of 26.12.2004 and the people were found fleeing away from the Islands in panicky to secure their life, the employees of electricity department with full dedication and perseverance exhibited their responsibility towards the society and restored the disrupted power supply within minimum possible time with South Andaman including Port Blair which is the nerve centre of disaster management getting the power supply within 24 hours followed by Middle Andaman , North Andaman and Carnicobar getting power supply restored on 28.12.2004. Now also during COVID-19 pandemic situation, the government servants including the employees of electricity department served in the remotest Islands having bare minimum civic amenities to ensure life of common is not disrupted to failure of public utilities.
Hence, the future prospects of the employees of the Electricity Department and wellbeing of people residing in the Islands need to given top priority over the commercial aspects of privatization intend to be achieved by handing over the Electricity Department to private Discoms.
Mr. Sharma said thatthe Government of India has always adopted the policies of a ‘Welfare State’ while dealing with the people of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He said that, our society and geographical regions are very diverse and only government can look after it in a fair, objective and equitable manner. Hence, the Central Government over the period of time has established various public utility Departments in Islands under the U T Administration of A&N Islands as well as of Central Government in a welldesigned and thoughtful manner so as to cover all important aspects of the life of the Islanders. Hence management of all Government departments pertaining to utility sectors should remain with the government.
The Member of Parliament on the commercial aspect of privatisation and affordability of the consumers to pay the electricity tariff stated that electricity being a crucial utility item for all consumers , over the period of time various socioeconomic issues have been factored into determining the end user’s tarrif and affordability to pay the tarrif by the end users.
In this context, Mr. Sharma clarified that even the
Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) with due understanding of the consumer base of the Electricity Department of Andaman and Nicobar Islands which is predominantly domestic consumers having varied socioeconomic background and various other constraints such as high cost of power generation through Diesel Generators, high Transmission and Distribution losses due to varied topography, sparsely spread domestic consumers etc. attributing to high Average Cost of Supply (ACoS) has approved the Average Billing Rate (ABR) of Rs.6.90/- per KWH (unit ) consumed by consumer for the year 2020-21 as against Average Cost of Supply (ACoS) of Rs.27.45 per KWH(unit) with a gap of Rs.20.55 per KWH(unit). The MP expressed that on perusal of the report of JERC the gap of Rs.20.55 per KWH (unit) is mainly attributed to high cost of power generation through Diesel Generators which is around ₹19/- when produced by Electricity Department and around ₹18/- when purchased from Independent Power Plants/Private Power Plants. However, this cost of generating electricity can be reduced drastically by adopting renewable energy sources which are having low cost of production. Mr. Sharma stated that with the efforts of Electricity Department to install more and more solar power plants as part of policy of the Central Government to provide clean and green energy to the Islands , will certainly help in bridging the gap of Rs.20.55 per KWH (unit) supplied.
Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that the Average Billing Rate of Rs. 6.90 per KWH(unit) is either more or comparable to most of the States and Union Territories with domestic consumers contributing the highest share of revenue collection by the Electricity Department.
Mr. Sharma while concluding his submission made to the Prime Minister stated that , it is because of these various obvious and genuine reasons, the privatisation of Electricity Department is being opposed by aggrieved Islanders, employees of the Electricity Department, the Trade Unions and Service Associations as well as by all political parties in the Islands and considering that the entire helm of affairs of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands being is held by Central Government , the Member of Parliament requested the Prime Minister to consider not to privatise the Electricity Department of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the better intrest of employees of the Electricity Department and Islanders as a whole.
