Whose Interest ?

Government officers are often faced with following difficult questions, while taking decisions :

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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  ]

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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

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·         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

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