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The power GridLOck
This
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On record PROFILE: Kunandei Francis
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The power GridLOck Two
successive grid failures on July 30 and July 31 were waiting to happen. The fact that the Northern Power Grid was under immense stress was no secret. But more than the grid collapse, it’s the failure to look at the future — and provide for it — that is killing the power sector.
Power plants do not have sufficient coal and gas to operate, capacity is lying idle despite the grim power shortage, the distribution system is creaking under growing demand, while states struggle to break free from the political expediency of subsidised or free power. The huge gap between power generation capacity and the rising demand, fuelled by increasingly affluent urban Indians, is the proverbial Achilles heel. Indiscipline by states that overdraw power to meet their demands from agriculture and industry has only worsened the fallout. The Northern Grid collapsed on July 30. The next day, the Northern, Eastern and the North-Eastern grids collapsed simultaneously, plunging 22 states into darkness and affecting some 60 crore Indians in what is now being seen as one of the worst power outages of the world. The Government of India has constituted a committee headed by the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Authority to investigate the grid disturbances and give a report by August 14.
Collapse was coming The Northern Regional Power Committee — a body of states and power supplying utilities in North India — at a meeting on June 8 discussed “Persistent over-drawl from the grid by northern states”. At this meeting, the Northern Region Load Despatch Centre (NRLDC) pointed out that over-drawl was continuing despite warnings. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) on May 3 observed that “difficulties faced by states to meet their consumer load should not be imposed on the grid. States must arrange for procurement of power or resort to load shedding to meet their loads.” Two weeks later, on May 17, the CERC directed: “Northern states, particularly Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana shall restrict what they draw (to remain) within their schedule and ensure there is no violation… and maintain the security of the grid”. Everything went unheeded. The lack of political will to act against erring states was enunciated by former Union Power Minister Suresh Prabhu. He said: “Repeated warnings issued to states without action means nothing. The entire country has suffered an economic loss and faced international ridicule due to the fault of a few.” It has raised questions whether criminal negligence charges should be slapped against defaulters, as the existing formula of ‘requesting’ grid-discipline has not worked.
Demand-supply gap At 8 pm on August 2, the Northern Grid was short by 6,894 MW, against a peak demand of 40,093 MW, says the NRLDC. In this, Punjab had a shortage of 2,715 MW, Haryana 1,794 MW, UP 1,815 MW and Uttarakhand 400 MW. The average annual increase in demand in India is 75-80 terawatt hours (TWh) per year, up from 50 TWh per year just five years ago. On the other hand, the increase in generation capacity per year does not match this. From 771 TWh in 2010, the capacity to produce power jumped to 811 TWh in 2011. This is leading to an increase in the gap every year. India’s capacity to generate 811 TWh per year — coming from hydro, thermal, gas and nuclear sectors — is 10 per cent short of the demand, and is a mere fifth of China’s capacity. Also, not all of the installed capacity is able to generate power 24x7. At any given time, India has the capacity to produce 2,05,340 MW. But On July 31, the available generation capacity was only 1,80,360 MW. For one reason or the other, several thermal and nuclear stations across the country — totalling an installed capacity of 3,397 MW — have not generated a single unit of power for the past one year or more. In all, around 15,000 MW of capacity is lying idle for want of coal or natural gas. Power generation in India is largely thermal-based, which uses coal or lignite as fuel, and contributes 1,16,387 MW. Gas provides 18,903 MW, hydro power 39,291 MW, while nuclear energy produces 4,780 MW. As this shows, coal alone accounts for two-thirds of the supply. One reason for the shortfall is the lack of availability of coal. In June this year, as per government estimates, thermal power plants were running at 72 per cent of the installed capacity due to coal shortage. The natural-gas fired power plants are running at half the installed capacity due to a shortage of domestically provided gas, while imports are costly. A bad monsoon has meant hydro power generation is also not doing well. In North India, water levels in the reservoirs at the important dams are several feet below last years’ levels at this time of the year. The Bhakra (on the Sutlej), Pong (Beas), Ranjit Sagar (Ravi), and Ram Ganga (Ram Ganga) dams have not been generating power at optimum levels.
What holds generation back Ramping up power production is one of the biggest challenges for India and, possibly, the grid failure indicates the need for major policy intervention. As demand from industry surges, a poor monsoon, like the one this year, jacks up demand from the farm sector too. In urban and semi-urban areas, the demand is rising as air-conditioners, microwave ovens, and washing machines are acquired by a greater number of homes. The power sector itself is groaning under ageing transmission lines and systems. The states, busy in giving away free power for vote-bank politics, do not have the resources. According to estimates in well-documented studies by international rating agencies, the state electricity boards have losses of nearly Rs 2,00,000 crore. Tariffs haven’t risen enough for years to cover costs for farm and social sector subsidies, while electricity theft is a high 27 per cent across the country, even 40 per cent is certain states such as UP. At 285 billion tonne, India sits on some 10 per cent of the global reserves of coal, but mining is sluggish due to delayed environmental clearances, land acquisition troubles and lack of investment in advanced technologies. Power companies are often forced to import from Indonesia. As on July 30, a total of 32 thermal plants had coal supplies that would not last even seven days — less than seven days of supplies is deemed ‘critical’ in power sector. Another four thermal plants did not have any coal at all, halting production, while 10 had supplies for less than two days of operations. The Union Power Ministry has unveiled plans of adding 88,000 MW of generation capacity in the five-year block of 2012-2017. Around 55,000 MW was added in the five-year period ending March 2012.
Creaking distribution Power is transferred in bulk at a high voltage of 132 KV and above through five regional transmission grids in India. The Northern Grid also gets power from the power-surplus north-eastern region and hydro power plants in Bhutan. Some of the transmission lines are 25 years old. In 2003, the BJP-led NDA regime had allocated Rs 56,000 crore for modernisation from the Central kitty, which was utilised, but the states have not been able to make any significant contribution. Today, some states are struggling to install even small things like polymer-based fog-resistant insulators — the brown-coloured piece of equipment used to connect a set of high-tension grid wires. The older porcelain insulators tend to crack in winters and result in tripping. As Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General, Confederation of Indian Industry, says: “The basic infrastructure requirements should be in line with India's aspirations.” The grid failures have caused a huge dent in the country’s reputation, he adds.
Need for investment The government’s Working Group on Power for the formulation of the 12th Five-Year Plan has estimated a total fund requirement of Rs 13,72,580 crore for the power sector. The Power Grid Corporation of India, which oversees the transmission of electricity between states, plans to invest approximately Rs 20,000 crore this fiscal. While the supply of money remains far short of requirement, there has been keen foreign investment in the sector. According to data of the Ministry of Commerce, the power sector since 2000 has seen foreign direct investment (FDI) of $4.6 billion (approximately Rs 25,000 crore at today’s exchange rates). This year in April-May alone the FDI flow was $100 million, says the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
Policy problems The Electricity Act, 2003, aimed to unfetter the power sector from government control, but the states got bogged down in protests from their own electricity boards, as employees feared privatisation, and held back even basic reforms. Till date, not a single open access has been granted to the private sector under Section 42(2) of the Act. The Act mandated that the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) introduce ‘open access’ latest by January 2009. However, very few SERCs have adopted this mandate in the right earnest, and even today they are far from ready. Power is related to vote-bank politics and nobody wants to upset status quo. The most promising source is nuclear power, but it is facing serious opposition from people, as seen in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Haryana. India needs to look at France, and add about 300-400 GW of nuclear capacity to sustain growth. This will reduce, and possibly eliminate, India’s dependence on fossil fuel. A little explored option is renewable energy. A mere 2-3 per cent of power produced in India is from renewable sources. Government’s energy report for 2012 pegs the potential for renewable energy at 89,760 MW, including an estimated wind power potential of 49,132 MW, small hydro power 15,385 MW, and biomass potential of 17,538 MW. In contrast, the existing wind power capacity is 17,600 MW, largely in the private sector in the coastal states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka. Last week, speaking at a round-table on wind power, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Gireesh Pradhan pitched for more power from renewable sources. He said the government was promoting commercial wind power projects through private sector investments by providing fiscal incentives, such as 10-year tax holiday on income generation from renewable projects, excise duty exemption for manufacture of wind electric generators and parts. |
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This
above all Awake: For the stone of light/ Has put the morning stars to flight/ And the Hunter of the East/ Has caught the Sultan’s turret/ In a noose of light And Dreaming while dawn’s left hand was in the sky/ I heard a voice in the tavern cry;/ Awake my little ones,/ And fill the cup/ Before life’s liquor in its cup be dry. For all that the Gayatri Mantra is also a tribute to the rising of the sun: Aum Bhoor Bhuwah Swaha/ Tat Savetar Vareynyam/ Bhargo dhey Vasya dheemahi/ Dhiyo yo naa prachodayat Aum blast the sun/ And the firmament/ May the gods give me/ The same life a light Red behinds of monkeys I am indebted to N. Krishnamurthy for reminding me why monkeys have red faces and bottoms. I reproduce his letter. “I have always wondered why some monkeys have red behinds. For years I believed it was a feminine phenomenon connected with their menstrual cycles. But I noticed later that some male monkeys also had red posteriors and genitals. Then I made a third observation viz. not one of the performing monkeys, whether male or female, belonging to the bandarwala had a red behind. Why? Where could I find the answer to such questions? I laid my hands on “Social Behaviour of Monkeys” by Thelma Rowell (Penguin). It has very little on the three families of apes most commonly seen in India — rhesus, bonnet and langur. And what I said about the red on the posterior and genitals doesn’t answer all my questions. Redness is certainly connected with maturity and desire: it is “Sexual Skin”. And I was not far wrong in my guess that in the case of female it marks her first menstrual period. About the male, all the author says is: “They also have sexual skins which become hairless on maturity, and bright red on the rhesus and some other species under the influence of testosterone.” However, in either case, red is the green signal for sex — almost like a mating call. Performing monkeys are usually taken in captivity as infants. The bandarwala becomes the substitute mother but does not give the baby monkey what its real mother can give. More important than food is affection and discipline, which teaches the monkey its place in the simian social order so it can, later on, adjust itself, mate and bear offspring. Monkeys reared by humans become misfits, they seldom have normal sexual impulses — and therefore no red on their behinds. Black faces of langoors Well, here is how: While battling the giants in Lanka, Hanuman’s tail caught fire. After destroying Lanka, he put his tail in his mouth to extinguish the fire, which turned his face black, thus providing a mythological explanation why Hanuman langoors have black faces. (Courtesy: Joginder Singh Babbra, N. Delhi) No safety valve Santa: I have heard that using condom is very safe? Banta: Not at all, I had used it. Still my girlfriend’s husband beat me up. (Contributed by Vinay
Asawa, Howrah)
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If
political pundits are to be believed, there are three men seriously in the fray to be the next Prime Minister. Interestingly, they are all bachelors — one way or another. And should that, for all of us, be a matter of concern? Among the three — Mr Narendra Modi, Mr Rahul Gandhi and Mr Nitish Kumar — the latter is the only one who is exempt from critique on this criterion because he is a widower. But the other two, Mr Modi and Mr Gandhi, need to introspect a little. As do we. Why don’t they have at least one ‘Significant Other’? Or is this the ‘Indian’ way of doing things: we admire the fact that they are married to the political party and have taken a vow of bachelorhood till they attain 7 Race Course Road, etc? Are we conditioned by the Mahatma Gandhi example to think of this apparent abstinence as a noble ‘sacrifice’? Or should we be worried about how the lack of a family life impacts policy or image? Yet, if you look at all past Prime Ministers, there is a curious absence (except in the case of the present PM and a few others such as Rajiv Gandhi) of a visible partner or spouse. Does that indicate that most of our former prime ministers, and now even some of our chief ministers, have had fairly dysfunctional family lives, or does it mean they suffer from social hypocrisy, hesitating to reveal their real partners. Or is it that it simply does not matter to the Indian electorate? While many Indian politicians are projected on their own, why is their family life considered so unimportant in our political narrative? In fact, in most other countries politicians are at pains to project a ‘good’ family life as one of the main criteria for voter appeal. The spouse is very crucial, for instance both for President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron. Michelle Obama, in fact, heads some of the important campaigns for social change in the lives of women and children in the US. Was it Pundit Nehru who started the trend of ‘no partner in public’, when he was widowed early and later plunged into a ‘secret’ affair with a fairly unsuitable British woman? While others might admire Mr Manmohan Singh for his economics, I have always felt that his not-so-secret weapon is undoubtedly the softly charming Mrs Gursharan Kaur, impeccably dressed and elegant. But I wish we saw more of her. Just because Mr Singh prefers to be reclusive, why should the embargo be put on her too? There is something intrinsically decent about her that reminds you of old school manners. She has an inner peace which reflects on her face, and perhaps some of it comes from the Gurbani she recites every morning. Each time we have met, whether at her home or elsewhere, she has always been warm and gracious, and has shown a keen interest in a variety of subjects, which is why all her three daughters have the confidence to do anything they want with conviction. This is the ideal family to project gender equality — the kind of ‘political’ family we need to see more, not less, of! In recent memory, both Mr Narasimha Rao and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee were ‘public’ bachelors but were rumoured to have colourful personal lives. To be fair, at least Mr Vajpayee was straightforward about it and his partner lived with him. But 7 Race Course Road would have been better served with more public appearances of them as a couple. This silence over very important issues often sends out the wrong message, negating the important contribution of the immediate family. Among the other Prime Ministers and their spouses, we did have a young and beautiful Mrs Sonia Gandhi briefly as the First Lady. But it was a time when she ‘hated’ politics (and for good reason, having witnessed her mother-in-law’s assassination) — and there was none of the open enthusiasm with which she has recently embraced politics. But at least we have wonderful photographs of her with Rajiv Gandhi, which we can compare happily with those of John and Jackie Kennedy. I know about Mrs Inder Gujral because she wrote poetry (and I had interviewed her for a morning programme I used to anchor), but I have no idea whether a Mrs Deve Gowda ever lived at 7 Race Course Road, and whether she possibly snored as loudly as her husband did in front of microphones. While many men have claimed Mrs Indira Gandhi was interested in them, she was probably too busy for another full-time relationship after she broke up with Mr Feroze Gandhi. So what is it about being the Prime Minister that makes the men and women who aspire for it into almost-singletons? Is it because the electorate does not think a supportive spouse and a good family life will add to the role? Nor does the Indian media find it important enough to discuss. Yet, it is obvious that in her few and brief appearances, we have all fallen under Mrs Gursharan Kaur’s spell. I wonder if Mr Modi can ever shrug off his brahmacharya because it will give him a wider appeal? While men have liked his macho image, would his base broaden among women too? Or is the discipline of the RSS too deeply instilled in him to take this rather drastic step? With Mr Rahul Gandhi, his persistently single status has the opposite effect. While women adore his dimples and good looks, middle-class men are likely to tone down their criticism when he ‘settles’ down and relate to him more. Right now, he is difficult to classify: is he an old youth or a young adult? But with an interesting partner by his side, he would have an edge over Mr Modi! Instead of projecting their family status, even some of the present CMs (both those who are heterosexual and others who are rumoured to be homosexual) are barely seen with their significant others. Which is why when Akhilesh Yadav presented his pretty young wife — and she claimed to be ‘compromising’ — the change was so refreshing that we forgot to laugh at her unintended pun or even remember that this is sheer nepotism. We definitely need to see more of the political spouse, though not always in the Rabri mould. Kishwar Desai’s new novel is “Originsof Love”; www.kishwardesai.com |
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On record Major education reform Bills are pending for want of consensus. Any forward movement expected in the forthcoming Parliament session? I met Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj. I don’t think there would be problems now with the Bills on mandatory accreditation and prevention of malpractices in higher education institutions. The Educational Tribunals Bill has already been passed by the Lok Sabha, and I have twice met Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley. I also reached out to Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee on the accreditation Bill. In principle, there is no problem. Some of these Bills should be passed. Your Congress colleagues blocked your Bill in the Rajya Sabha. Some feel you are in tearing haste. That’s political dynamics. I am glad I am in a hurry, because the easiest way out in life is not to do anything. The easiest thing in the world is not to take any decisions. Are you working on any new laws? This Monsoon Session, we will introduce a Bill to give statutory powers to the CBSE. We are working on a draft Bill to prevent unfair practices at school, such as overcharging of fees, denial of admission and discrimination on the basis of caste or religion. Besides, we plan to reintroduce the National Academic Depository Bill. I will first take it to the Cabinet after incorporating the changes recommended by a Parliamentary committee. We’ll take up the other Bills later. How would it help to give the CBSE statutory powers? The nature of prescriptions by the CBSE would be far more objective if it is made a statutory body. Statutory status will make it independent of the government. It will also give the CBSE a greater handle on schools in case of aberrations such as the one where a Chandigarh school expelled molestation victim Ruchika Girhotra but didn’t act against the erring teacher even after an inquiry revealed that a wrong had been done. Once an inquiry establishes that a teacher had a role to play, it is incumbent on the school to take action. The RTE Act bans corporal punishment, but students continue to commit suicides due to harassment by teachers. What are you doing? Monitoring teachers is the responsibility of school administrations but we need to be cognizant of these facts. Schools must adopt measures to ensure teachers have the sensitivity towards students’ concerns. Unfortunately, the extent of sensitivity required in teachers is missing. Our teacher training programmes must include the fact that teachers substitute parents at school. Unless attitudes change, aberrations will happen. And you can’t possibly penalise the whole school for one teacher’s act unless the complicity of the school is established. The RTE Act requires private schools to reserve 25 per cent seats for weaker sections but neither compensates them enough nor gives them time for transit. Private schools are feeling the pinch. About 90 per cent of the private schools charge less fee than what we are giving them as subsidy against the 25 per cent quota. It will take schools eight years to fully implement the reservation from Class I to VIII, as the inducted batch moves up. This transition period is enough. Let us remember what the objective is: quality education for every child. Hopefully a time will come when government schools will impart quality education and these 25 per cent students will not need to seek private education. But till such time, this is the least we can do. Crème de la crème will always crib. But states can help them. Now the Supreme Court has also upheld the reservation as legal. It is the law of the land. The Act bans detention but states feel this is leading to indiscipline. The intent behind no detention under the Act has been misunderstood. It’s a matter of clarification in the definition and we are open to it. The intent was to give a weak student the confidence to move up and not demoralise him by detaining him in class. But that does not mean a child who never comes to school gets to be promoted or a child who deliberately acts in a manner that destroys the harmony of the school gets promoted. That was certainly not the intent. These issues need clarification. Do you think the single engineering test issue could have been handled better with the IITs? I don’t know how else I could have handled it. Never before has a two-and-a-half-year discussion preceded an IIT Council decision on exam reform. If I had any indication from IIT directors that the council’s unanimous decision would trouble someone, I would have resolved matters further. When I got an indication, I met the IIT faculty. I opted out of the final council meeting and let IITs decide what they wanted. You still didn’t get one test for engineering. Only in the IIT case we didn’t get one test. NITs, deemed varsities and AICTE colleges are on board. States are joining. In principle, we have succeeded. I am also setting up a new committee to suggest modalities of a single test. IIT faculty will be on it. What we have not succeeded in doing is curbing coaching. That can only happen when we have a single test and Class XII weightage. What about ordering a review of the NCERT cartoons? I had to set up the review committee. It was the commitment of the Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha, what could I do? The cartoons had been there since 2006. I never said anything. But when the whole Parliament opposed and there was not a single dissent, I could not have ignored it. Personally, I think cartoons in themselves can’t be objected to. But if there is a series of cartoons which get a different connotation when put in a textbook — than the context that was there when they originally came up — people have the right to say the cartoons must be removed, just as you have the right to say they should not be removed. Both sides have the freedom of expression. |
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PROFILE: Kunandei Francis Native of a small village in Tamil Nadu and born in a poor family, Francis rose to become a prominent social activist and scholar who transformed the lives of millions. He was born in 1947, the year of Independence, to Lulandei and Mathlai Mary in Karipatti village in Salem district. He was the eldest of six children. His father, a farm labourer, doubled as a railway gang man. His mother was a farmhand too. “I am the only person from our family to enter college and it was my mother’s desire too,” he says. Though illiterate, his parents sold their only piece of land to enable Francis to pursue education. He graduated from Annamalai University, but with misery and migration stalking the countryside, his heart forced him to do something for the suffering people. He started an “Integrated Village Development Project (IVDP)” to the help poor in 1979 in Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu. Starting with small projects, he conducted a night school, and set up a first-aid centre. Later, with the help of developmental organisations, he undertook a micro watershed programme, which, over 22 years, built 331 small check dams in 60 villages. In 1989, the IVDP began organising women’s self-help groups. Today there are over 8,200 groups with 1.5 lakh members. At one stage, Francis had wanted to be a priest. He joined the Father of the Holy Cross in 1970 and was sent to study theology in Pune. As part of the degree, he was involved in relief work with Caritas India, offering aid during the Bangladesh war. He also participated in relief work for those affected by the 1972 drought in Pune. Francis is married to Kosalai Mary, and has a daughter, F. Sunitha Nadhini Esthar. Both his wife and daughter play prominent roles in running the IVDP. In 2007, the IVDP launched the Education Revolution, which provides scholarships for high achievers as well as guides for children in Krishnagiri and Dharampuri districts. The IVDP is also doing work in promoting solar lights and nutrition for children between 2-5 years. “I never work for or expect any award,” said Francis when informed that he was chosen for the prestigious Magsaysay Award. The Magsaysay Foundation had said Francis was being recognised for “his visionary zeal, his profound faith in the community energies, and his sustained programmes in pursuing the holistic economic empowerment of thousands of women and their families in rural India.”
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