Letter from the opposition leader of Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha to the Speaker
(Translation of Hindi letter)
Notice under Rule 56
Hon’ble Chairman,
Vidhan Sabha, UP
Respected Sir,
By writing to you, I want to draw the attention of the House to the massive losses that the state and the people will incur because of the government’s policy of privatisation. The BJP government is calling it “partnership” instead of privatisation, but this is in fact a policy of selling the state. The government’s Energy Task Force has also said that privatisation will attract substantial domestic and international investment. Because the companies belong to the private sector, they will not be audited by the Auditor General.
The government is handing over Dakshinanchal and Purvanchal electricity distribution companies to five companies whose proposed names are as follows: (1) Agra–Mathura Vidyut Nigam Ltd, (2) Kashi Vidyut Nigam Ltd., (3) Gorakhpur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd., (4) Jhansi–Kanpur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd., and (5) Prayagraj Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd. This will affect approximately 1 crore 62 lakh electricity consumers across 42 districts.
Around Rs. 16,000 crores of these consumers’ money is surplus with the electricity department, which is not even mentioned in the Task Force draft. Both discoms have assets worth Rs. 70,000 to 80,000 crores. The Central Government had prepared a draft Standard Bidding Document in September 2020, which has not been finalized yet. Without a Standard Bidding Document, the discoms are being sold for pennies.
According to Central Government rules, 30% of the total assets is the minimum net worth at which they can be sold. Assets worth Rs. 80,000 crores should be sold at the net worth of Rs. 24,000 crores. However, the Energy Task Force has decided on the following minimum bid prices for the three companies of Purvanchal: Rs. 1010 crores for Gorakhpur, 1650 crores for Kashi, and 1630 crores for Prayagraj. The bid prices for the two companies of Dakshinanchal are Rs. 1660 crores for Agra–Mathura and Rs. 1600 crores for Jhansi–Kanpur only.
In addition, the government’s RDSS scheme states that there are technical and commercial losses of 18.49%–18.97% in energy supply to non-governmental consumers. However, the Energy Task Force has mentioned losses of 39.42%–49.22%. The government has decided to give subsidies of Rs. 9,061 crores to these companies every year. This step clearly reflects the interests and benefits of the companies.
There are more than 77,000 officers and employees and approximately 50,000 outsourced workers working in the two discoms of Purvanchal and Dakshinanchal. These workers will be removed from service and their families will have to starve. The BJP government is not concerned about the officers, employees, or outsourced workers. They are only concerned about collecting people’s hard-earned money by imposing heavy taxes and then giving this money to companies for their benefit. The people of the state have fierce anger against the government’s policy of privatisation and this anger can explode at any time.
Thus, while drawing the attention of the House to this matter of urgent public importance, I request you to stop the proceedings of today’s session and hold a discussion on this topic.
Date: 17/12/2024
Sincerely,
Mata Prasad Pandey
Leader
Opposition Party
Vidhan Sabha, UP