For those who track the country’s power sector, it would have come as no surprise that the generation capacity added last year is less than a third of the target. This so-called slippage happens every year, and in every plan, and there is always a ready explanation for it.
This time around too, the blame was on the lack of auxiliary power plant equipment which has been in short supply for the last few years. Ask what is being done to address the shortage and you will be inundated with all sorts of incredible explanations which amount to naught.
In this backdrop, this statement in the Congress Party manifesto left me completely foxed:
“The last two years have seen a very sharp turnaround in the addition to power generating capacity. This momentum will be maintained and it will be ensured that the country adds at least 12,000 Mw-15,000 Mw of capacity every year through a mix of sources — coal, hydel, nuclear and renewables.”
Where is the so-called sharp turnaround? In the first year of the plan, about 9,200 Mw of capacity was added. Last year, a mere 3,450 Mw was commissioned, or, if one takes a more lax definition of commissioning, about 4,900 Mw came on to the grid. If this is the momentum that is sought to be maintained, it is impossible to manage the promised addition of 12,000 Mw-15,000 Mw.
The manifesto of the Bharatiya Janata Party — the other national party — is even more aggressive in its targets:
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“Our goal will be to add at least 120,000 Mw of power over the next five years with 20 per cent of it coming from renewable sources.”
That would mean an average addition of a whopping 24,000 Mw per year. This is more than the 20,000-odd Mw added in the whole five years of the tenth plan (2002-2007). The whole universe would have to conspire to manage a near-impossible feat like this.
The power sector is just one example of how political parties tend to over-reach in promises and then fall short in delivery. Promises are easy to make. Power for all. Education for all. Health for all. Shelter for all. Security for all. Livelihood for all. “All” the billion-plus population of the country needs to be provided these basic amenities and it is every party’s and government’s endeavour to provide them. Yet these are among hundreds of other priorities.
So the ruling party manifesto says that reviving the economy is its priority as is the passage of the National Rehabilitation and Resettlement bill. The Ganga River Basin Authority is also its high priority. The manifesto also says that “rural electrification and reduction in distribution losses will be given highest priority.” Over and above, overseas Indians are also a priority.
The manifesto of the Bharatiya Janata Party puts under the highest priority bracket “sectors such as agriculture (particularly soil and water management, human and animal nutrition, fisheries), water, health, education, industry, energy including renewable energy, communication and transportation” while giving “special importance” to key leverage technologies such as information technology, biotechnology and materials science and technology. Union Territories will also get special attention as will the river Ganga, according to the manifesto.
An ideal country plan — for that is what party manifestos essentially are — should have a clear prioritisation of priorities to be effective. It should also have a big idea which can catapult the country to a new and higher orbit. Construction of dams — the temples of modern India — was one of the big ideas post-independence, as was the setting up of the Indian Institutes of Technology. The Golden Quadrilateral roads programme linking the four corners of the country was also a big idea leading to long-term benefits. Unfortunately, the manifestos of the two national parties are bereft of any big idea.
This brings to mind the oft-quoted example of creative thinker Edward De Bono: Imagine a ship in disarray. The rudder is not working properly. The engine keeps breaking down. The crew is incompetent and demoralised.The lights keep going off. Then there is a new captain and management team. The problems are fixed. The crew is motivated. Everything is excellent. But the ship is still going in the wrong direction!
There seems to be no one steering the ship to the right direction. Instead, the emphasis is on addressing the micro areas of concern without looking at the big picture.
Perhaps the big idea this time could have been the launch a mega housing project to plug the dwelling units shortage of over 20 million. This can be undertaken under a public private partnership. It would generate demand for materials (steel, cement, paint, fittings), labour and land. It would also get capital circulating and act as the quickest-fix stimulus.
The big idea could also have been free and universal access to healthcare, which includes access to adequate food, water, sanitation and basic housing, as per the draft national health bill of 2009. The industrialisation of agriculture, in letter and spirit, could be another big idea. The possibilities of what the whole country could be mobilised to achieve are limitless, if only all the energies are focused in the right direction!