House panel to look into irregularities in power purchase

After dilly-dallying for a fortnight, the government on Monday accepted the demand by the Opposition Janata Dal (Secular) to constitute a House committee to look into the alleged irregularities in procuring short-term, high-cost power in the last few years.

Bowing to pressure

Minister for Energy D.K. Shivakumar announced the constitution of such a panel in the Assembly, just before it was adjourned

sine die .

However, he announced that the proposed committee would look into the purchase of high-cost power from 2005-06 to 2013-14, while the JD(S) wanted the probe to cover urchases from 2006-07 to 2013-14.

Demanding such a probe, JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy alleged that the State had spent a whopping sum of about Rs. 17,450 crore on purchase of short-term, high-cost power alone in the last six years, which comprises the five-year BJP government and a year of the present Congress regime. Participating in a debate on the demand for grants for the Energy Department, Mr. Kumaraswamy had alleged that the procurement of high-cost power (for short-term), which stood at 40.50 million units worth Rs. 28.51 crore during the regime of the coalition government led by him in 2007-08, had rapidly increased to 1,963.49 million units, worth Rs. 1,327.43 crore, within a year when the BJP formed its government. He said the government was not serious about how power purchased and worth hundreds of crores, was allowed to burn before entering the State, due to lack of a grid and a corridor.

The issue of constitution of such a House panel had witnessed high drama in the Assembly on July 15 as the government announced it’s decision to form the panel to look into purchases from 2006-07 as per the demand of the JD(S), but withdrew the decision within hours, following serious opposition by the Bharatiya Janata Party members. The BJP had taken exception to confining the scope of such a probe to only the last six years. Terming this as an attempt to target its erstwhile regime, the BJP wanted the government to widen the scope of the probe.