Stalin seeks white paper on state’s nod

Alleging that an extraordinary situation has arisen in the state, Stalin asked as to what compelled the ruling party to give its nod to the schemes it had opposed tooth and nail prior to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation. He said “O Panneerselvam, who holds the Chief Minister’s portfolio must immediately release a white paper on the background in which the AIADMK regime had suddenly extended support to GST, UDHAY, NEET and Food Security Act.” Recalling Panneerselvam’s non-participation in the GST Council meet, the DMK treasurer said, “The entire state administration has been paralyzed in the AIADMK regime. 

A full-time governor has not been appointed to ensure governance in accordance with the Constitution. Who stands to benefit from such a situation? Who prepares the agenda of the AIADMK regime now?” Claiming that the government has been struggling to make decisions on key issues concerning the welfare of the state since CM’s hospitalisation, Stalin took a dig at the ruling dispensation for not revealing the details of the two Cabinet meetings chaired by the Finance Minister Panneerselvam, even after the Governor issued orders to that effect. “It is unfortunate that the ruling AIADMK keeps even the decisions taken at Cabinet meetings a secret,” Stalin remarked urging Panneerselvam to publicly explain their flip flop on key issues. Stalin sought to know why the government has also come forward to blindly support the new education policy of the Centre.

Tamil Nadu has been missing out on saving electricity in a big way as it has not joined the UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All) scheme implemented by the Centre since 2015.

The state has been able to reduce its electricity bill and carbon imprint by using LED bulbs only by 2 MW. Whereas Andhra Pradesh have saved up to 495 MW, Kerala 202 MW, Karnataka 346 MW and even Puducherry 16 MW.  Analysts in TN predict that TN’s 1.71 crore domestic consumers using LED bulbs could lead to the state saving nearly 800 MW of energy.  However, top Tangedco officials said “the corporation being in the red was the reason for TN’s reluctance to join the scheme. Though the low cost of LED bulbs was enticing, setting up a distribution network would lead to an additional financial burden which the state was not willing to accept. An alternative was for the state government to provide funds to take the LED bulbs to the consumers.”  

Nationally, 17.74 crore LED bulbs were distributed resulting in 6.31 crore KWh energy savings per day which amounts to Rs 25.25 crore. The scheme has avoided 4,615 MW peak demand and reduced the carbon footprint by 51,150 tonnes. Implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) of the Centre in July 2015, the scheme crossed its target of 1 crore LED bulbs in two months resulting in 1.4 crore KWh energy saving daily while avoiding a peak demand of 1,326 MW in addition to daily cost savings of Rs 5.60 crore. The scheme adopted by over 2.3 crore people across 11 states led to LED bulbs distribution touching 7 cores on March 1, this year. 

In one year more than 9 crore LED bulbs were sold which led to power bills being lowered by Rs 100 crore.  Nationally, Andhra Pradesh led with a distribution of 1.89 crore LED bulbs, while Maharashtra with 1.68 crore bulbs came next followed by Karnataka with 83 lakh bulbs in the third place. EESL achieved 75% reduction in LED bulb price through aggressive and transparent procurement. EESL provides bulbs costing Rs 400 at Rs 10 and power distribution companies repay EESL over a prolonged period from energy saving cost.