Don't disturb power reforms,
Vajpayee tells Chautala
by Gobind Thukral
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 9 — The Central Government has urged the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala not to disturb the reform process in the power sector. It should be continued with greater vigour, the Chief Minister was told.

Official sources here stated that when the Chief Minister met Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee last week to seek more power from the national power grid to tide over the worsening electricity supply situation, the Prime Minister told him to keep firmly on the reform track. "This is very important".

Later, when Mr Chautala met the Union Power Minister, Mr P. Kumaramangalam, to seek more power and also the Rs 300 crore thermal project in this plan itself, the Union Minister indirectly said all help was there if the reform process was not impeded. In fact, Mr Kumaramangalam told his secretary that he did not like to help the Rajasthan government because the state was lagging behind in reforms, but Haryana had a good track record and should be helped. A sharp Mr Chautala immediately understood the remark and commented, "perhaps message is for me."The Centre is supplying about 20 lakh units daily from the national power grid to help the sowing of wheat in the state. Haryana's power position continued to be precarious despite the Panipat thermal unit performing better. Lack of rains is one reason.

When the World Bank team visited here early this month, Mr Chautala had sought more time to make up his mind on the power sector reform process. The World Bank team while agreeing to allow more time to the state government had made it clear that it would not be able to continue aiding the power sector if the reform process was reversed. More clearly it stated that the government must revise upward the power tariff and only then expect the rest of the Rs 2,400 crore aid. Under the agreement, the government has to hike the power rates for the farm sector from the present 50 paise to 75 paise per unit. Some lesser increase has to take place in other sectors — industrial and commercial besides, domestic. The World Bank has provided Rs 240 crore to Haryana as first instalment. About Rs 200 crore has been spent so far.

Mr Chautala is committed to free power and water to the farmers and also opposes any privatisation of the power sector. He feels in developing countries the state sector has an important role. But his dilemma is that there is no money with the state government to bear the present losses what to say of future development works. The Centre too is not in a position to help much, particularly when it is going ahead with the second generation of reforms.

Haryana is losing Rs 2 crore daily in the power sector.

The World Bank also wants privatisation of the distribution as a condition to provide more money.

The previous state government had provided Rs 550 crore in the Budget to subsidise the losses. But officials estimated that at least Rs 600 crore more would be required to offset the total loss. The state just does not have that kind of money. It has been suggested that the state could tighten the belt and increase the collection of taxes in order to meet the challenge and honour the free power and water pledge.

In fact, the former Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal who took some bold steps to reform the power sector and even initiated a limited privatisation could not increase the required power rates for the farm sector. And before he could do anything, his government was out.

12 MLAs under ‘surveillance’
From Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service

GURGAON, Nov 9 — Although the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has thwarted a move to destabilise his government by sacking two ministers and inducting 10 ministers in his Council of Ministers a few days ago, as many as 12 MLAs of the INLD are understood be under surveillance.

According to sources, these MLAs will be shadowed till the coming session of the Haryana Assembly, beginning from November 15. INLD managers do not want any further problem for the government, a possibility which is not ruled out by many in view of the aborted threat posed by the moves of the two sacked ministers, Rao Narbir Singh and Mr Brij Mohan Singla.

Thirteen out of 14 MLAs, who had joined the INLD after splitting the legislative wing of the Haryana Vikas Party and bringing about the fall of the Bansi Lal government, had met in Kanishka Hotel at Delhi a couple of days before the sacking of the two ministers. Mr Jaswant Singh Bawal did not attend the meeting. The meeting was a culmination of a series of informal meetings and telephonic conversations of the two sacked ministers with some more MLAs of the INLD(these MLAs are the original MLAs of the INLD). The meeting in Kanishka was organised by Rao Narbir Singh and Mr Brij Mohan Singla to effect a fall of the present government.

Rao Narbir Singh was in constant touch with the former president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), Mr Birender Singh to prop him for the post of Chief Minister after the possible fall of the INLD government. The move by a section of the INLD legislators was on despite the fact that the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had, at its meeting in the wake of debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, expressed sentiments against the Congress being party to any future move to destabilise any government in the country.

However, the move to destabilise the government of Mr Om Prakash Chautala fizzled out as almost all MLAs present at the meeting in Kanishka leaked the moves against the government to the Chief Minister. Subsequently, in a shrewd political move Mr Chautala patched up with Rao Narbir Singh and Mr Brij Mohan Singla with the assurance that the government would pay heed to their grievances on a priority basis. One of the grouse of Rao Narbir Singh, was that the administration was not giving due regard to his status. Also,Rao Narbir Singh has been unsuccessfully trying for long for change of land use (CLU) of his about 80 acres of prime land in Gurgaon district. The apparent patch up was done through a close relative of Mr Chautala. But in the Cabinet expansion that followed the two were sacked and others included.

With such developments in hindsight, there are many who have started doubting on the longevity of the government. It is in this context that keen followers of Haryana’s politics attach significance to the coming session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. They apprehend the dissolution of the House on the last day of the session. But, the present government will have to ensure its constitutional locus standi of being in majority at the time of recommending the dissolution of the House. Doubts have crept up in the mind of many in spite of the fact that the crisis managers of the government tout unflinching support of 47 MLAs.

Many link the present exercise of surveillance of the MLAs to the apprehended dissolution of the House. There is another angle to the situation. A number of MLAs of the INLD, especially those who had joined the party after they quit the HVP, are said to be against the dissolution of the House and mid-term elections in the state. They apprehend that they will not be given the party ticket.