Government officers are
often faced with following difficult questions, while taking decisions :
------------------------------------------------------
While taking this
decision, whose interest am I protecting ?
·
Interest of “ 1 million
“ persons or of “ 1,000 million “ persons ?
·
The “ Vested interest of a small minority “
and for a “ short duration “ , as against the “ Social interest of a vast
majority “ which is of a “ long term duration “ ?
[ Ignore the numbers - figures will vary from
case to case ]
-----------------------------------------------------
Following are some recent
examples :
·
French President Macron announced at WEF –
Davos , two days back :
“ France will shut down ALL of its coal-based
Power plants, by year 2021 “
President Macron said he wanted to “make France a model in the fight
against climate change,” as one of five pillars in his plans to reform the
economy.
I have a feeling that he
will be followed by similar announcements by leaders of other EU countries ,
for the following reasons :
Across the European Union, the economic tide is already turning against
coal power : more than half of the bloc’s 619 coal-powered plants are losing
money, according to a report. A combination of rapidly falling prices for renewables and
air pollution laws are pushing them out of business.
·
US President, Trump levied a 30 % import
duty on Solar Panels
.
·
Closer at home in India :
o
The Directorate General of Safeguards Duty (DGS), in its
preliminary report investigating the dumping of solar cells, (whether or not
assembled in modules or panels), has suggested a 70 per cent safeguards duty on
imports from China. The DGS has identified ‘serious injury’ to the domestic industry
caused due to increasing imports and declining prices of Chinese solar panels.
o
NTPC , whose coal-based power plants are
the chief culprit in causing air pollution ( and most of which are operating
well below the optimum PLF – Plant Load Factor – and producing power at Rs 3.19
/ kwh ), has come out with a tender to buy-out another 12-18 coal-based power
plants , which are “ stressed assets “ !
o
A Parliamentary Committee wants to stop
sale of Air India and wants it to continue making losses ( approx. Rs 6000 cr /
year ) for another 5 years !
How come neither our legislators , nor our
administrators , are asking :
·
What is the trade-off between ,
# Imported
Solar Panels / Cells, helping India to bring down Solar Power tariff
to ( say ) Re 1 / kwh by 2022 and turning
India into a “ Low Cost Economy “
Vs:
Protecting the jobs of a few thousand persons
employed by local
manufacturers
of Solar Cells – Modules – Panels ?
# Saving the NPA of a few banks which have lent
money to those stalled / idling
Coal-based
power plants of Private Sector,
Vs :
Continuing to supply dirty power to
homes / industries for Rs 3.19 / kwh ?
It seems to me that when it comes to “
Globalization vs Protectionism “, we have different standards
!
For thousands of years, Indian Ethos has been :
·
A person must sacrifice for
saving his family
·
A family must sacrifice for saving the community
·
A community must sacrifice
for saving the country
It is high time we
introduce this VALUE SYSTEM in our school syllabus
27 Jan 2018
www.hemenparekh.in
/ blogs
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