DMK chief urges Centre not to amend Electricity Act

Flaying the central government's proposed amendment to the Electricity Act, 2003, DMK chief Karunanidhi today alleged that changes in the legislation will affect states' rights and urged the Centre to avoid going ahead on the issue.
"After the amendments are passed, electricity will come to be managed by the Centre which is now being done concurrently by states and the Union government," he said adding that the move would "largely affect the rights of states."
Listing out issues that he called "dangerous if the proposed amendments were to be adopted by Parliament," he said power distribution would go entirely to private hands.

"I urge that the proposed amendments must be avoided which encourage privatisation and instead constructive work should be carried on to multiply power generation," he said in a statement.
The Union government has proposed to bring in amendment to the Electricity Act, 2003 for "promoting competition, efficiency in operations and improvement in quality of electricity supply."
The amendments, Karunanidhi said, would facilitate use of infrastructure of power utilities for transmission and distribution and it "envisages sharing the losses of private entities by government companies and this portends serious danger."

"There is a threat of free electricity to sections like farmers, huts and handlooms being stopped," he claimed.

Alleging that the subsidy for power by states would be halted, he said "the move would lead to a further rise in prices of essential commodities due to privatisation of the sector."
Other issues he raised included "loss of jobs" for employees in power sector, and an apathetic situation in which states would have to depend on private sector for growth projects.
He said several states, including the BJP-run Gujarat, have opposed the proposed amendments besides employees of the power sector who have given a strike call.
Like other states, about 80,000 employees of the state-run TANGEDCO (Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation) have already announced that they would strike work "on the day when the amendment Bill is taken up in Parliament."

Last year, in his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Chief Minister Panneerselvam (now state Finance Minister) had opposed the move calling the amendments "skewed and against the federal spirit of the Constitution.