Football fever vis a vis electric fever

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Football fever vis-a-vis electric fever

By: Oinam Anand *

One of the glad tidings that comes from the Government in recent days is the commitment made by the Power Minister Francis Ngajokpa last week. Whether it is to keep the vote banks happy or the Government's genuine love for the football crazy people of Manipur, the power supply will not be disrupted during the FIFA World Cup football 2006, if we have to believe the words of the Power Minister.

It gives a sigh of relief to the thousands of football fans who spent anxious moments in thinking that they would miss the glamour of the glorious moments of the football matches due to load shedding.

In fact, additional power supply is a must at present to maintain and balance the current momentum of the football crazy fans in Manipur. The power department has to arrange at least a temporary arrangement for uninterrupted power supply during this one month from 9th June to 9th July.

Rain God has been kind enough this time as the pre-monsoon rainfall in the last week of May has raised the water level of the Loktak lake and has helped to generate at least the average capacity of power which was not possible during this period of time in previous years.

Above this the heavy fuel power project at Leimakhong has been put into service specially during the World Cup matches. About one crore of rupees has also been allocated specially for this. What will be more happier news than these news.

While the boys, girls and most menfolk are crazy to see the live in action of their favourite heroes such as the Beckhams and Ronaldhinhos, many housewives have got a smile on their lips because of sizeable amount on their budget in buying candles and kerosene will be saved at least for a month.

Then a certain thought creeps in our mind. This temporary arrangement for one month can be made permanent if both the Government and public are sincere enough to pay the extra burden of power purchase from the already installed heavy fuel power project but there is apprehension of regular generation of po-wer due to fear of bankruptcy.

It is true that the standard of living in a State is the determined by the amount of electric power provided by the State and the manner it is used by the people in the State. Looking from this point of view one can easily access and gauge the standard of living of the individuals without applying any other yard stick.

Power is crucial and critical at present not only for our State but also for the whole of our country. The capital Delhi is frequently gripped by power failure. This also happens in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal etc where large portion of the power supply is used for tube-well irrigation. But unlike in other States, in Manipur electric power is consumed most in theft by unauthorised consumers causing loss to both the Government and bonafide consumers.

All of the consumers, the unauthorised consumers enjoy the electric power most as if it is a free gift provided for them by the Government. When the power is on they use it at the full, glaring every nook and corner and when the power is off, nobody bothers about it and have habituated to live in the age before the birth of Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of Electric bulb.

Everybody in our State seem to have lost the sense of duty and the compulsion of paying electric consumption charge. Many heads of Departments lead the list of electric bill defaulters. Ministers, MLAs who are idols in the eyes of the public fail to lead from the front.

They are not different and equally evasive in the payment of electric consumption charges. It is only the State Government employees who do not fail to clear the monthly electric bills. Then, when and where will be a cycle of smooth power supply to the people in Manipur?

Now coming to the collection of taxes, the Government squarely blames the consumers for not having the habit of giving taxes. It is true, but at the same time it is also true that the electricity department is yet to lay a rule or norm to collect revenue from the consumers. Out of the 100 rupees collected as tax from the consumers hardly 10 rupees reach the State exchequer.

The large portion of Rs 90 remain as residue when the tax of the bonafide consumers is filtered through the pockets of the bill collectors, cashiers, SOs, AEs and EEs. This shows the sincerity and sense of responsibility on the part of the employees of the electricity department.

The Government is mulling about the establishment of a police station exclusively to collect electric taxes. It sounds good.

Enactment of ant-power theft laws, setting up of special courts, and special police stations to deal with power theft will certainly help in the collection of taxes and misuse of electric power. But we should remember that reforms cannot be conducted in only theoretical ways we need to have long term policies, not the short term populist policy such as providing power during World Cup football matches.

While I was in my finishing touch of this writing, the light suddenly went off and I heard many cursing words for Mr Ngajokpa and his department officials from the next door who were watching England-Paraguay match.

Oinam Anand wrote this article for The Sangai Express
This article was webcasted on June 25th, 2006

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