The story so far: Ignoring the objections of the Opposition, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and the trade unions, the Union Power Ministry introduced the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in Lok Sabha on August 8. Union Power Minister R.K. Singh said at the stage of introduction that the Bill could be moved to the Energy Standing Committee of Parliament for broader consultations. “My simple submission is that this entire matter will be discussed in the Standing Committee and the Standing Committee has representatives from all the parties,” Mr. Singh said. The Opposition questioned the introduction of the Bill. They alleged that the Centre is breaching the promise given to SKM that the Bill will not be brought to Parliament. The Opposition MPs said the Bill is not just anti-farmer, but also anti-constitutional and against the interest of States. The basis of their argument was that the Bill may lead to ending subsidies for farmers and poor consumers.
What is the history of the Bill?
The Electricity Bill was brought for the first time and passed in Parliament in 2003, when A. B. Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. The intention was to consolidate the laws relating to generation, transmission, distribution, trading and use of electricity. The Act also offered to protect the interest of consumers and supply of electricity to all areas, rationalisation of electricity tariff, transparent policies regarding subsidies etc. The Act resulted in privatisation of distributing companies. It was amended in 2007 by the UPA Government, apparently under pressure from the Left parties. The provisions for “cross subsidy” — ensuring subsidy to poor households was added to the Bill in 2007. There were attempts to amend the Bill further in 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. While the 2014 Bill was cleared by the Standing Committee on Energy, it could not be passed in the House as the Centre wanted to revise it. None of the other draft Bills came to Parliament as the Centre was not satisfied with the primary response it received after consultations with stakeholders. All of those Bills remained in their draft form.
