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KSEB restructuring inevitable: Balan

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister for Electricity and Welfare of Scheduled and Other Backward Communities A. K. Balan has said restructuring of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is inevitable.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, the Minister said the Central government had already extended the deadline for the board to comply with the provisions of the Central Electricity Act eight times. The last extension would expire on June 9, and further extension could not be expected.

The Minister said the expert committee, constituted by the State government, had recommended restructuring of the board under a single umbrella organisation. Mr. Balan said the employees, agitating against restructuring, should be protesting against the Centre and not the State government. The State should be implementing the Act as no State was exempted from the provisions of the Act. The Act required separation of the generation, distribution and transmission wings of the board.

He said the board was at present facing a revenue deficit of Rs.750 crore on account of purchase of power at higher rates from the Central pool. The Accountant General had reported a revenue gap of Rs.142 crore in 2006-07. The situation was such that power cut would become inevitable.

Tribal people’s stir

The Minister urged tribal organisations to withdraw from their stir demanding land and cooperate with the government’s efforts to distribute it to them. Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan had been requested to convene a meeting to settle the agitation by tribals at Chengara in Pathanamthitta district.

The government had already distributed land to 6,310 tribal families, including 1,717 families at the Aralam farm. A project for building houses for 2,572 tribal families at Aralam with infrastructure facilities was under preparation, the Minister said.

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