On Bijli

At the book launch on Friday the 5th, Rene Klaff, sitting in the audience, asked the question: “Why are issues like automobilzation and roads not on the agenda of any Indian political party?”

He gave the example of the German FDP in North-Rhine Westphalia who achieved great electoral success by campaigning on the slogan “Free Movement For Free People.”

I replied that an element of power is the ability to keep certain issues out of the political discussion. The people are shouting for bijli, sadak, paani – but the political discussions are all about “education,” employment guarantee, loan waiver, and the great nuclear deal.

Of course, I also said that cars and roads are things that the liberals of India must articulate from the political soapbox. This can be our USP.

We emphasize transportation – not education.

Shubh Laabh and Shubh Yatra!

Our entire urban vision rests on a “hub-and-spokes” transport network.

But what do we say of bijli?

Manmohan pyaray has gone nuclear – and this will be under the ownership of The State. They will generate power as efficiently as they make steel.

We will privatize and allow entrepreneurs to choose the fuel for their power plants: coal, lignite, hydro, naptha, gas… whatever.

This is the only way by which anyone can get bijli – by paying for it.

There can be prepaid bijli connections just like with mobile phone cards today.

As I explained to one of my rural smokey friends last night, for millennia Indians have been lighting oil lamps in their houses at dusk. Some bells tinkle, Lakshmi is praised.

And they have been able to light these lamps only because they bought the oil from the local merchant.

Similarly, they will always have bijli if they buy it.

With government ownership (including nuclear) our nation’s bijli problems will never be solved.

One question: Would you like a nuclear power plant coming up in your city, town or village?

I bet there will be a great NIMBY reaction when the government proposes locations for their atomic power plants.

NIMBY stands for “Not In My Back Yard.”

Think about it.