BENGALURU Chief minister D K Shivakumar on Monday assured employees of the state’s power utilities that the government would not take a unilateral decision on privatisation, saying the issue would be placed before the Cabinet and decided after considering the views of employees.
Addressing a felicitation programme organised by the joint federation of the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Employees’ Union and Associations at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, Shivakumar said, “I alone cannot decide whether power utilities should be privatised. We will discuss the issue at the next Cabinet meeting and take a decision based on your opinion.”
Referring to the employees’ campaign against privatisation, Shivakumar questioned why there had been no organised opposition when the enabling legislation was introduced during the BJP’s tenure.
“You are demanding that power utilities should not be privatised. But when the law was brought in 2003 by the BJP government, why did no one oppose it? No one protested or raised their voice then. Today you are approaching me and energy minister K J George asking us not to permit privatisation. If you condemn those who make wrong decisions and appreciate those who do good work, your stand will carry greater credibility,” he said.
Shivakumar also questioned the rationale behind allowing private firms to benefit from infrastructure created by public employees. “You are the ones who laid the power lines with the government’s support over several decades. Should private companies now be allowed to earn profits by taking over the power connections?” he asked.
He said employees should view their relationship with the government as one based on mutual trust and responsibility. “You may raise slogans in my name, but that alone does not matter. Ours is a relationship of give and take, sharing and caring. If you stand by us, we will stand by you. Your opinion will be my opinion, and I will honour the trust you have placed in me,” he said.
Shivakumar added that the government would consider the matter collectively rather than allowing a single individual to decide.
“I will place my trust in you when this issue comes before the Cabinet. If that trust is broken, I will have to look at the decision taken by the Vajpayee government. Do not allow that situation to arise. Our relationship should remain strong,” he said.
The chief minister also used the occasion to defend the Congress government’s record in the energy sector, contrasting it with the BJP’s period in office. “Did the BJP government introduce any major project to increase power generation? Did it construct a new building for the department? During our previous government we built the Energy Bhavan and created permanent infrastructure for the department,” he said.
“When I took charge of the department, transmission losses stood at 19%. We brought them down to 10%. We established a 2,400 MW solar park across 13,000 acres without acquiring even a single acre of land in one block. The model later inspired similar initiatives in other states. We also promoted decentralised power generation at the taluk level, and the Centre later introduced the Kusum scheme based on similar principles,” he added.
