MP Govt's policies responsible for power crisis

Bhopal, Apr 3 (UNI) The Madhya Pradesh CPI(M) has blamed the government's policies of privatisation and bifurcation for prevailing power crisis in the state.

CPI(M)'s state secretary Bahadur Singh Dhakad, while addressing state-level convention on rampant power crisis in the state, said contribution of private companies in power generation was negligible despite 16 per cent profit guarantee assured to them.

He said the former Digvijay Singh Government had entered into 18 agreements with private companies but none had produced a single unit of electricity.

Mr Dhakad described the bifurcation of electricity companies as unpractical saying that production, distribution and transmission of power could not be segregated.

He said not utilising power generation capacity completely and transmission and distribution losses led to the power crisis.

The government had no plan to curb these losses.

The meeting described filing of cases by private companies against consumers as inappropriate besides accepting 14-point demand including amending the Electricity Act, providing subsidy and cross-subsidy and reducing power tariff.

UNI