Power scheme may short Modi's poll plan

GUJARAT DECIDES

Is 24 hours of electricity supply good or bad? A big debate on Chief Minister Narendra Modi's pet project, Jyotigram, which aims at providing round-the clock electricity to all rural homes, has sparked a debate which is affecting his chances in the 2007 Assembly polls.

Across Saurashtra, people admit the Jyotigram project has brought electricity, but are still reeling under the drive to curb power theft that preceded the project "" almost 13 lakh connections were sealed, over 36,000 cases filed and Rs 16 crore recovered. These are the figures for just 2005-06.

In Paniadev village in Dhari tehsil of Amreli, the Takani family has become tragically well known. Four members of Mansukhbhai Takani's family committed suicide.

They had to bvorrow to pay a fine of almost Rs 3 lakh for power theft, after nearly 11.8 lakh new metal meter boxes were to be installed under the Jyotigram project.

"My uncle could not recover from the debt," says Takani. He is not the only one. Popat Bhai Dhanani, a local farmer in Nadi village, had to pay Rs 50,000 as fines.

At the Congress candidate's office in Amreli, and at the office of the lone CPI(M) candidate in Gujarat, Arun Mehta, actions of the power nigam are recounted as if they were police action.

"Almost 4,000 people were raided in Bhavnagar alone. Jyotigram is all very well, but this is nothing short of dictatorship," says Mehta.

"Farmers are being given round-the-clock power in their homes but get only eight hours of supply for agriculture. In this scenario, farmers will steal, but do we need to treat them like criminals?" says Pradip Kotadiya, president of the Amreli district Youth Congress.

Modi has, in fact, cleared a Cabinet proposal to limit the fines to Rs 12,000 after cases of suicide were reported from Saurashtra. The dissidents in the BJP and the Congress, however, have been quick to grab this discontent. But even here, this is only one part of the picture.

According to a study by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the rural management instutute in Anand, the Jyotigram project has led to an increase in commercial activity in the countryside. The report said at least 55 per cent households surveyed said employment opportunities had gone up in the countryside.

In fact, in Nadi village itself, a diamond cutting and polishing unit, one of the many, has shifted from Bhavnagar town to its rural "office." Veljibhai Dhonda, owner of the unit, admitted that overheads in Nadi were low and the guarantee of 24-hour power supply in the village made the move easy. "My costs are down and the power situation is as good as in the city," he said.

Saurashtra is the home of Leuwa Patels, a dissident group against Narendra Modi, and they are making the most of the fear psychosis generated by raids to curb power theft. Whether this will bear fruit in the elections is to be seen.