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Power tariff: Govt. yet to evolve alternatives

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM SEPT. 6. The Minister for Information and Parliamentary Affairs, M. M. Hassan, said here on Friday that the Government had not taken any decisions on imposing a power cut in the State.

The Minister told presspersons that the Government was yet to evolve an alternative course of action after the power tariff hike was withdrawn. Reports to the contrary were only speculation.

Mr. Hassan said that an alternative course would be finalised only after the meeting of the UDF liaison committee on September 11.

He said that the decision to hike tariff was taken with good intentions. Some quarters were trying to create an impression that the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, alone was responsible for the decision. This was objectionable. Mr. Antony only gave the leadership as the Chief Minister to take decisions to manage a crisis. The hike was withdrawn at the initiative of the Chief Minister himself, Mr. Hassan said. He added that Mr. Antony had backtracked on the decision in deference to public opinion and opinion within the UDF. This was an exemplary conduct in a democratic set-up. It was not a defeat for the Government.

Mr. Hassan did not answer when asked whether it was a victory for the Congress leader, K. Karunakaran.

He said that the Government had not been giving in to Opposition pressure as the Opposition had no moral right to protest against the hike. In 1988, it had increased the power tariff by 63 per cent. Largest increases in power charges had been effected during the LDF rule. The average tariffs for domestic consumers had gone up from 40 paise to 105 paise. Out of this increase, an increase of 43 paise had been effected during the LDF rule.

The Opposition had launched the agitation to make political capital out of the crisis and the measures taken by the Government to tide over the crisis.

Mr. Hassan, who said that the legal provisions for collecting compensation for destruction of public property during agitations needed to be implemented, said that the Government could implement it only if there was public opinion in favour of it. Asked whether the majority was not against the destruction of public property, he admitted that it was so, but declined to commit Government action in the matter.

He said that the BJP, which protested against the power tariff hike, had not even passed a resolution against the hike in prices of petroleum products. If the BJP president, C. K. Padmanabhan's exhortion to "(man)handle'' the Ministers was extended to the Union Ministers, what would be the situation? Mr. Hassan asked.

Referring to Mr. Padmanabhan's statement that the Chief Minister's colleagues had set up traps around Mr. Antony, Mr. Hassan said that the Mr. Padmanabhan needed to be beware of "Rajavembalas'' (king cobras) around him.

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