It was a powerful tryst, to say the least, but his fight for consumer rights related to electricity issues has managed to last for over two decades after what began with attending a workshop on consumer participation in electricity regulations at the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad.
Today, Y.G. Muralidharan, Founder Trustee of the Consumer Rights Education and Awareness Trust (CREAT), served in various capacities after starting the trust back in 1993. He is now a member of the Central Consumer Protection Council and part of the Karnataka Electricity Governance Network, an area of work within CREAT.
While citizen activists in the field of power and electricity are far and few, how did a B. Com graduate come to become a prominent face for consumers?
“I joined the accounts department of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., immediately after I graduated. But after 20 years, I opted for voluntary retirement in 2001 with 17 years of service left to go as I wanted to devote more time for civic activism and consumer issues,” Mr. Muralidharan said.
The time was opportune. The State government had just established the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), while Mr. Muralidharan was actively writing about electricity issues. The then KERC chairman Philipose Mathai asked him to join the commission as a Consumer Advocate in September 2001 in the KERC’s Office of Consumer Advocacy.
Serving in that capacity up to October 2012, Mr. Muralidharan, managed to form a State-level network of civil society and consumers to work exclusively on electricity issues, facilitated the formation of the Electricity Consumers Network, and brought down consumer deposit from three months’ average consumption to two months.
“Civic issues are easy to criticise as there is no extra knowledge required. But issues such as electricity require expertise and knowledge, material and data. Not many people take up these matters. Earlier there was no regulatory mechanism, so no space for civic society. But now there is KERC,” he said, urging citizens to engage themselves more.
