Drop power privatisation plan: Puducherry MP

N. Gokulakrishnan says Centre’s move will affect farmers and the poor

Requesting the Centre to drop its plan to privatise power distribution in the Union Territory, Rajya Sabha member N. Gokulakrishnan on Friday said the move would be detrimental to the interest of people and employees of the Electricity Department.

In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, he said the privatisation of power distribution would disturb the concessions enjoyed by farmers and marginalised sections in the U.T.

Around 7,000 farmers in Puducherry were getting free power. Likewise, around 3. 5 lakh poor were getting the benefits of government’s one-hut one-bulb scheme.

With minimum workforce, the department was effectively managing power distribution in the U.T. The power distribution loss was around 12 % which was well within national parameters. The power generation cost worked to around ₹5. 20 per unit, he said.

Privatisation would result in tariff hike and disruption of free services to poor, he added.