The Hindu : Punjab to impose power cuts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 16, 2002

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Punjab to impose power cuts

By Our Staff Correspondent

CHANDIGARH July 15. The Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, said today that due to failure of the monsoon, the State Government was left with no choice but to impose power cuts to ensure eight-hour supply to the farm sector for the success of the kharif crop.

Talking to presspersons here,Capt. Amarinder Singh, said that the water levels in the reservoirs of the dams had also gone critically low, leaving no water to be released. The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) was working out strategies to deal with the alarming situation.

However, the state government plans to divert resources of some departments to purchase an additional 100 MW of electricity to meet the needs. While the Met department reports indicated that Monsoons were expected anytime after July 24, the PSEB would have to impose power cuts on all sections of the consumers, the coming few days. The existing power cuts to the Industrial sector are likely to be extended.

The Chief Minister reacted rather sharply to reports in a section of the media, that it amounted to being uncharitable and misleading the transfers of officers since the new government took charge. He said that it was the prerogative of every new government to choose its team of officers. Responding to another question, Capt. Amarinder Singh favoured a "pyramid structure'' for the IAS and the IPS, to decide the postings.

Responding to another question related to alleged disappearance of an amount of Rs two crores, said to have been recovered during the investigations in the "cash for job'' recruitment scam, Capt. Amarinder Singh dismissed the charges as "frustrated rumblings''. He denied that the sacked chief of the Intelligence department of the state police, Mr. A.P. Bhatnagar had ever submitted a report regarding the disappearance. He added that he was awaiting the officer's reply to the notice served on him by the state government.

Regarding allegations of his being in league with the former president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Mr. G.S. Tohra, who has been accused of allowing intelligence agencies to use the Golden Temple complex during the days of terrorism, Capt. Amarinder Singh said that on various occasions he was involved in brokering peace between the Centre and the Akalis. He disclosed that former SAD Chief, Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, Mr. Tohra and former Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, were usually contacted for talks. "Every time the impediment to the peace process came from Mr. Badal, who always had a negative agenda and behaved like a coward. Had he been slightly positive, Operation Bluestar would have never been conducted,'' he added, charging Mr. Badal to have always succumbed to the situation without displaying any leadership qualities.

Earlier, Capt. Amarinder Singh released the Final draft of the report by the Chief Minister's Advisory Committee on Industrial Growth and Relevant Infrastructure, which has been compiled by the former Chief Secretary of the state, Mr. A.S. Chatha. While Mr. Chatha gave details about the report, the Chief Minister said that the document would form the base to formulate the new Industrial policy for the state.

The Chief Minister said that the objective of the exercise was to create an atmosphere that was conducive for investment. However, he quickly added that the state government did not have the resources to grant subsidies to the help the process of industrialisation. "Under the new economic order that prevails globally the role of the government is preferably limited to being a facilitator instead of being a partner,'' he said.

Capt. Amarinder Singh said that the five years' "directionless'' rule by the Akali-BJP combine provided a major setback to the process of industrialisation initiated during the period of Mr. Beant Singh. He claimed that after the Congress returned to power this February, large industrial houses of the country had expressed keen desire to invest in the state's industrial sector. He disclosed that the International giant like Quark had also expressed willingness to invest Rs 400 crores in IT sector and Biotechnology.

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Punjab to impose power cuts