Power shortage in the state is back in discourse in a big way. And unlike in the past we are talking about it in mid-summer, the season traditionally not known for heavy curtailment. In fact, it is the first time since 2002 that the state is facing unscheduled power cuts in summer beyond the normal curtailment schedule.  Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has blamed power pilferage by the people for this state of affairs, an observation that has generated widespread resentment among the civil society in Kashmir. Certainly, CM’s remarks were uncalled for. It is unfair to blame people for being responsible for what can only be termed as mis-governance. Provision of services and enforcing the rule of law is the job of government. If there is pilferage of power, it is the department of power that is responsible, not the people. There can be no power theft if there is no collusion from the power department. Same is the case for the alleged collapse of metering system in Valley. If the system is failing, as indicated by Omar, government needs to look within for the cause. There is also irony in what CM has said in a succession of tweets in response to growing exasperation in Valley against the unscheduled power cuts.  During his election campaign in 2008, Omar had spoken against installation of meters as these obliged people to pay more for the electricity. Then, it was an attempt to play to a widespread public opinion against the meter installation in Valley. Now the same Omar bluntly asks people to pay market price or face darkness. The civil society has rightly called on the government to direct its anger against the NHPC which generates power from the state’s water resources and gives us only 12 per cent royalty. The fact is that power is a complex and very contentious subject in the state. And if anybody is responsible for messing it up or failing to provide curtailment-free electricity to the state for the past six decades, it is the successive state governments who have either overlooked the exploitation of state’s resources or many a time also colluded in this. Blaming people can therefore be termed only an abdication of the responsibility by this government to provide good governance, and nothing else.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 24 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 24 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 25 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST