Expressing concern over power shortage, members in the Rajya Sabha today made various suggestions to the government including restructuring of Coal India Ltd, bailing out state electricity boards and improved centre-state relations to address the issue.
Other recommendations included review of the Electricity Act, encourage Panchayats in electricity production, generate more nuclear energy, revamp transmission and distribution systems besides exploring solar and other renewable sources to address the gap in power supply and demand in the country.
Initiating a discussion in the Upper House, P Bhattacharya (Congress) said a lot needs to be done in areas like rural electrification even as the UPA government had paid attention on the power sector and made substantial progress.
There were instances where electric poles were put up in rural areas but real power had not come. "We need "real bijli" in villages," he said and sought to know if it was true that government is contemplating selling electricity to Pakistan.
Avinash Pande (Cong) suggested restructuring of Coal India Ltd (CIL) and its subsidiaries to improve efficiency, while V P Singh Badnore (BJP) pitched for bailing out of loss making State Electricity Boards, review of the Electricity Act 2003 and exploring new resources for power generation.
Stressing the need to make the country self-sufficient in the power sector, Avtar Singh Karimpuri (BSP) called for cut in transmission and distribution losses and also raised the issue of representation of SCs, STs and OBCs in entities under the power ministries.
Praful Patel (NCP) stressed the need for better Centre--State relations to resolve the prevailing power problem in the country.
Pitching for boosting coal production, he wondered why the country had to resort to imports of the dry fuel when it itself was sitting on a huge reserve.
