Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is evincing keen interest in the development of industrial sector in the State as a dependable avenue of removing unemployment. In this way she is following the line of the Prime Minister who wants that no village and no homestead even in the remotest corner of the country should remain without electric power supply. This commitment of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister should apply more effectively in our State which is a hilly state and the population is dispersed over a large mountainous area with not too dependable means of communication and road connectivity are available.
But leave the tall claims aside and also leave the far flung areas aside, the claim is falsified at the very heart of the industrial sector in the industrial zone of Bari Brahmana in Jammu which, of late, has emerged as the hub of Jammu region’s industrial activity. For the success of any industry, round the clock power is of primary need. Power cuts are most harmful to the industrial sector. And this is what precisely has happened. In a recent meeting Bari Brahmana Industries Association (BBIA) has come out with scathing criticism of Power Development Department saying that it has failed to honour its commitment and supply 24×7 uninterrupted power supply to the industrial sector of Bari Brahmana.
According to the BBIA, first the PDD promised that it would ensure uninterrupted power supply to the industrial units in Bari Brahmana but then suddenly the Chief Engineer PDD withdrew the policy of uninterrupted power supply resulting in huge financial losses to the industrial units due to running of their units on DG sets. The question is if the PDD assured that power would be supplied on 24-hour basis then why the sudden jerk and then withdrawal of this assurance. Is it on technical grounds, or on tariff grounds or just out of vendetta or the whimsical administration culture of the PDD? After all, the Government cannot afford to handle an important economic activity casually and whimsically. That is not the way of good governance. If reduction in hours of power supply was inevitable, the PDD authorities could have done it after taking the industrialists into confidence and explained to them the difficulties facing the department. If no solution was found, though that is not the case, yet the good coming out of this would have been that the industrialists would have been given time to make alternative arrangement. Sudden issuing of order that affects so many industries is not happy administrative decision.
We have a question for the Government. There are no two opinions about the importance of industries to the growth of the economy of the State. There are no two opinions that growth of industries is highly helpful in reducing unemployment among the youth, skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled. This is clear understanding of the Government and is repeatedly announced. Why then does the Government do actions in reverse and defeat its own policy by creating conditions for the industries that lead not to their growth but to their decline. It is difficult to presume that the order of the Chief Engineer is issued without consultation with the Minister in charge of the Department. We would suggest that the Power Minister call a meeting of the industrialists’ association and discuss the matter with them threadbare and through mutual understanding some via media has to be found. No side should take stands in this critical matter.
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