POWER REFORMS, GOVT OF RAJASTHAN

Area of Study

Rajasthan is one of the largest states in India lying in the northwest of the country. Against the vast backdrop of sand and desert, Rajasthan is a reservoir of natural beauty, rich culture and heritage - a land that never ceases to intrigue & enchant. What is most charismatic is that the state has retained all its ethnicity, culture and traditional ways of life. The majestic hills of Aravali's - one of the oldest mountain ranges of the world and the golden sand dunes of the Great Indian Desert, Rajasthan is well connected and easily accessible from various parts of the country.

Figure No I
Rajasthan

According to the Census of India, 2001, the state has 32 districts grouped under seven divisions. Jaipur is the capital of the state with 222 cities and 41,353 villages. Total population of Rajasthan is 56,473,122 with a population density of 165/km². The majority of Rajasthanis are Hindus accounting for 88.8% of the total population. Muslims constitute another 8.2% and the remaining 3% are others. The region’s sex ratio is 922 and is much lower than the national average figure of 933. Data shows that Rajasthan constitutes 5% of the Indian population, 10% of India’s area, and only 1% of India’s water [Wells for India, Internet sources] {http://wellsforindia.org/whoarewe/whoarewe.htm, 2001}.

The literacy rate in the state is 61.03% as compared to the national average of 65.38% according to the 2001 Census. While the male literacy is higher than the national average but the female literacy is abysmally low at 44.34 percent in comparison to the national figure of 54 percent. The enrolment of girls in Rajasthan is only 45% for primary education as compared to 55% boys. For secondary education the picture is even worse with only 36% girls enrolling as against 66% boys. There exists a large gender gap in terms of literacy rate. These large variations are prominent especially in the regions of Tonk, Sawai Madhopur and Jalor.

Figure No II
Gender Gap in Literacy Rate

Source: Census of India, 2001

Beneath the vast treasures of natural beauty and splendor, the state unfortunately reels under the grim reality of poverty and impoverishment with 14 percent of its population lying below the poverty line according to the government of Rajasthan’s estimates. However this figure does not go uncontested as some records show its much higher to the tune of 26% [UN Poverty Level]. Mainly an agrarian economy, irrigation is mainly done with water from wells and tanks. The Indira Gandhi Canal irrigates the northwestern portions of Rajasthan. Rainfall is scarce and water continues to be a haunting problem. The Census, 2001 reveals alarming figures such as 67 percent of the households not having access to drinking water within their household premises. About 24 percent of the households are located away from the source of drinking water and have to spend hours in traveling long distances to fetch drinking water. Only 35 percent of the households have access to tap water. Hardly 5% of primary schools have water and sanitation and 28% of the households have regular supply of piped water as compared with 89% that of the nation [Rajasthan Poverty, Internet Sources] [2001].

Rajasthan’s scattered population settlement pattern has to face an equally grim situation for their energy demands. According to the Census of India 2001, 55 percent of the households depend on electricity for their source of lighting. The rest are dependent on Kerosene and other sources of energy. An interesting fact that has been depicted through the Census documentation shows about 0.3 percent of the households depend upon solar energy for fulfilling their energy demands. In addition to domestic requirements, energy consumption in the agriculture sector, industrialization, household industries and the service sector also need priority based attention by the state. Being an agrarian economy a large segment of the population is engaged in the agriculture sector. A study of the census data shows that a large concentration of workers in the agriculture sector is found in the districts of Jalor, Barmer, Churu, Chittorgarh, Jhalawar and Baran. Since most of the agricultural workers depend on wells and tanks for their irrigation, a large section of the workers in the agricultural sector are handicapped for want of electricity.

Figure No III
Workers Engaged in the Agriculture Sector

Besides irrigation, a deficit energy supply is also the root cause for enormous hardships faced by the workers engaged in the household industries and other small scale industries.

Figure No IV
Workers Engaged in the HHI

The limited hydro-power potential thus puts a heavy load on the transmission and distribution (T&D) of electricity in the state especially given the conditions that most of the losses and power thefts in the state have been in the transmission and distribution sector.

Background

The Rajasthan power sector reforms are a major initiative adopted by the Government of Rajasthan, in order to meet the growing demand of the energy consumption. An urgent and immediate need warranted a transformation in the power sector reforms of Rajasthan. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the government of Rajasthan moved at a war footing to facilitate and attract investments in the power sector, improving the efficiency of its delivery system leading to an overall satisfaction of the people. Needless to emphasize that a dynamic and growth oriented power sector would pave the way for ushering in rapid industrialization, economic growth and stability in the agricultural production.
Its project on the ‘Feeder Renovation Programme’ is a three year project beginning from June 2005 and is to be completed by June, 2008. It covers a total of 8,475 rural feeders in all the 32 districts of Rajasthan State. Given the alarming situation the Rajasthan State Electricity Board bifurcated into separate Generation, Transmission and three Distribution Companies. Accordingly the Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) directed the distribution companies to bring down their transmission and distribution (T&D) losses by 20% and eventually to 5.4 percent in the current fiscal year. Thus the existing power scenario in Rajasthan was as follows:

• The transmission & distribution system covered a vast geographical area of 342,239 Sq. Kms, 2/3rds of which is desert with low population density.
• It served over 56 lakh consumers from different categories.
• Demand for electricity has been growing at an alarming rate - an annual average of 11%. There exist a significant number of backlog applications to the tune of over 6 lakh applications for service connections.
• The T&D loss for all the three distribution companies was estimated to be 70%.
• Village electrification in the state is achieved to the tune of 94.85% but in terms of actual households having electric power connection, the percentage could be as low as 57%.
• Constant interference and a lack of consensus from various political parties with conflicting opinions do result in the non-implementation of power reforms in certain areas. Many political leaders in public condemn the reform process, stating that it has not achieved any thing.

The rural areas were supplied a 24 hrs supply of electricity with a good voltage. This project has been undertaken by the GoR on top priority. There is no direct external agency involvement in the form of public-private partnership, but most of the work has been carried out on a turnkey basis. However, moral support of public representative is a key motivational force in the successful implementation of this project. Initially the communities in the village of Badhal resented tooth and nail to such a programme but ultimately they themselves played a key role in the successful implementation of the project.

With 70,51,684 consumers in March 2007, Rajasthan has come a long way from the earlier figure of 56,01,438 consumers in March 2001. This accounts for an increase of 26% in the growth of consumers. Nearly three fourth (73.47%) of the consumers constitute the domestic sector. The non-domestic sector and the agriculture sector accounts for another 12 and 11 percent respectively. The industrial sector accounts for hardly 3% of the consumers. In January 2007, the peak load was 4946 MW as compared to 4822 MW in January 2006. This led to a peak shortage of 455 MW (8.42%).

Given the background it is essential for the success of the reform process to invoke community participation in a big way. The project targets to benefit all classes of society including the Dalits & BPL families and facilitates to increase the earning capacity of the family by creating more jobs in the rural areas through Kutir Udyog and other small scale industries which are being developed on a large scale. The BPL families enjoy electricity supply @ 85 paisa per unit, while the GoR bears the remaining 110 paisa per unit. More than 4 lakh BPL consumers are estimated to be availing of this facility in Rajasthan currently. Overall the project aims to cover 27 lakhs rural consumers with 24 hours quality power supply and 8 lakhs agricultural consumers to be provided with reliable, adequate and uninterrupted power supply for functioning of pump sets. The success of the `Reform’ process largely depends on sensitizing the service providers, regulators, and other stakeholders.

The project is being carried out by Jaipur / Ajmer / Jodhpur Vidhyut Vitran Nigam Limited on a turnkey basis awarded to contractors like ABB, L&T, KLG etc. Some of the feeders are being renovated on central labour rates on a contract basis.  Out of 70.51 lakh consumers 67.73lakhs (96%) are metered. All agricultural consumers are to be metered by March 2008 under the project. The state government has already permitted the distribution companies to outsource the maintenance work by issuing franchise to private firms in three sub-divisions. Computerized mobile vans are to be sent to remote villages for payment of electricity bills [‘The Hindu’, 16 December 2007].
 
Objectives

The major objectives of the project had both long term and short term implications:
Short Term Objectives include:

1. Creating awareness among the rural consumers while educating them about their rights
2. Promoting greater involvement of consumers through community participation  
3. Providing an increased awareness of alternate energy source and conservation of power resources
4. Understanding by the utility providers in improvising the quality and quantity of service.
5. Activate the government machinery at the state, district and block levels, resulting in greater involvement of public in the governance process.
6. Greater involvement of political leaders at all levels

Long Term Objectives include:

1. Improvement in power supplies and services with provision of 24 hrs uninterrupted proper power supply to the rural domestic individual consumers
2. Increased use of alternate energy source such as renewable energy etc.
3. Community involvement and participation in power distribution, collection of dues etc.
4. Drastically reducing the T&D loss and also the DT failure rate
5. Greater level of electrification, especially rural electrification, either through grid or through alternate energy source
6. A participatory approach for ushering in good governance leading to greater transparency and improvement in the functioning of government machinery
7. Bringing about a rippling effect on the other sectors such as infrastructure and utility services, promotion of small scale and handicrafts industries, etc,.
8. Achieving an improvement in the overall customer’s satisfaction level.

Target Audience

1. 70,51,684 consumers with 27 lakhs rural consumers>
2. 8 lakhs farmers
3. All men, women and children particularly in the rural areas
4. All classes of the society including the Dalits, BPL families
5. Consumer activists, rights advocacy groups and NGOs
6. The Panchayat Raj Institutions, academic institutions and the village representatives
7. The common man including the senior citizens of the village
8. Block and district level administration officials
9. State administration officials, like the Collector, Superintendent of Police, and the Home Department
10. Political leaders at all levels
11. Utility providers and officials of transmission companies
12. The State Regulators

Innovation, Transparency & Accountability

The ‘Feeder Renovation Programme’ project aims to provide 24 hours electricity to the rural sector in the households and six hours electricity to the agricultural fields. This Herculean task was especially difficult to achieve, given the situation that there existed a transmission and distribution (T&D) loss of power to the tune of 67-70 percent. Bringing down the losses to 15-20 percent seemed like a distant dream.

The programme organizes regular chaupals every month at each 33/11KV sub-station, which covers consumers from among 30 to 40 villages. These chaupals provide an opportunity for the rural consumers to participate and resolve their day to day problems. Information as regards the benefits accrued from the FRP is discussed. These chaupals have also significantly contributed in improving the communication between the distribution companies (Discom), staff & villagers.

Information such as the list of villages getting 24 hours supply, reduction of T&D losses up to the level of 15% is regularly informed to the MLAs, Zila Pramukh, Sarpanch and the Collector every month. The state bodies like the collector, SPs, Home Department also provide the much needed support to this project especially during the implementation phase. This helps in the transparency and sustainability of the ‘FRP’ initiative to maintain a low level of T&D loss through immediate action in nabbing the miscreants who are involved in the instances of cable cuts & damage of special type distribution transformers, etc.  

Transparency and accountability are critical for the efficient functioning of a modern economy and for fostering social well-being. Any transfer of power must not only be effective but at the same time should not be abused. Transparency ensures that information is available that can be used to determine the effectiveness in terms of performance and also guard against any possible misuse of authority. In that sense, transparency serves to achieve accountability, which means that at the end of the day there is always someone who could be held responsible for the actions.

The power sector has established a hierarchy of designated junior engineers as Feeder Managers who are responsible for implementation of ‘FRP’ work for each feeder. The assistant & executive engineers are responsible for the supervision to be complete within the stipulated time. The outsourced agency M/s RIGHT (a GoI undertaking) is responsible and engaged in monitoring for quality checks and completion of the project especially during the implementation stage. 
 
Without transparency and accountability, trust will be lacking between a government and those whom it governs. Only adequate transparency and accountability are therefore critical for ensuring that resource wealth is managed for the benefit of the whole population.

Accessibility to Service Delivery

Most of the government initiatives ultimately are concerned with service delivery. Service delivery in the public sector affects the government’s relationship with civil society and the private sector to a large extent. Thus service delivery is indispensable in the search for good governance. Service delivery directly influences how the government’s performance is seen by citizens. What ultimately matters is the impact on the community. The linkage between people, service and trust needs a strong bonding. Outcomes of the FRP have resulted in the 24-hour power supply for domestic consumption both in the rural as well as the urban areas. This fact was well attested by the village community during the field visits. The village Panchayat Head, Shri Madanlal Meena of Vidhani was more than satisfied in the service delivery of the power sector. 

Little four year old, Ishita Kataria from Kadel village of Ajmer district liked going to school. The power supply had transformed the school by creating a rippling effect. They had water to drink, and fans working in the summer months.

Little Ishita Kataria, Kadel, Ajmer

Chanda, Kadel Village, Ajmer

However Chanda of Kadel village although happy about the regular power supply was critical about the huge electricity bills she had to dish out at the end of the month. She wondered whether the earlier arrangement was better. Nevertheless most of them attested the fact that they did receive uninterrupted power supply of proper voltage.

The power sector officials accompanying the team on field visits were proud of the fact that the T&D losses had been controlled to a large extent and in certain places this was as less as 15 percent. The maintenance department was active and quick to rectify any complaints that were received at the local office. The rippling effect of the service delivery was amply visible in certain sectors of the economy. Young children were happy as they could concentrate better in their studies.

Research Coordinator with the Women from Vidhani

Women could produce a whole variety of milk products from the milk in lesser time and chop the fodder for the animals much faster leaving them more time to relax. They also were able to produce handicrafts and small industrial products up-grading the overall standard of living.

Participation & Social Well Being

Rajasthan has a substantial chunk of the population who are below the poverty line. The project through its initiatives has gone a long way in creating awareness among the rural consumers and at the same time educating them about their rights. The project has promoted a greater involvement of consumers through community participation of e-chaupals, Sarpanch Sammelan and other regular workshops. The participatory programme provides an increased awareness of alternate energy source and conservation of power resources. This in turn has activated the government machinery at the state, district and block levels, resulting in a greater involvement of public in the governance process. Academic Institutions and Panchayat representatives act as a motivating force among the rural communities in educating the people about the benefits of the ‘FRP’. The government of Rajasthan and the local bodies provide the moral and administrative support in the implementation & sustainability of this project.

Almost every month a meeting is held at the sub-divisional level for imparting information beneficiaries such as energy usage tips. They are also informed about the benefits of the 24 hours supply provided to them in rural areas. This has resulted in a drastic improvement in their lifestyle enhancing their standard of living substantially. A marked difference has been noticed among the various sections of the society. Usage of equipments, gadgets and appliances such as TV, cooler, fridge, etc is a common sight. Barring a few all major schools located at the Panchayat level & large villages and hospitals are equipped in terms of electricity supply round the clock. Thus the rural areas are in a position to ‘Take-Off’ in terms of developmental activities.

Water is a precious commodity for the desert people. This project facilitates to overcome the drinking water problems. Constant supply of electricity to domestic consumers has helped them to utilize the single phase domestic pumps and appliances. The surrounding environment will benefit substantially with a reduction in terms of carbon emissions on account of the decrease in the T&D loss. There will be a drastic reduction in the power consumption during the peak hours. There is a constant minute to minute monitoring for the smooth functioning of the system. The junior engineer is nominated as the feeder manager. The assistant engineer monitors the progress. The Executive Engineer appoints the co-project manager to execute the project. The superintending engineer is appointed as the project manager for implementation and is fully authorized to sanction the project for the circle. The sub-divisional officer organizes Panchayat level meeting to mobilize villagers' support during the implementation stage.

Replicability & Sustainability

Rajasthan is the first and only state to take up the task of providing good quality power supply in the rural areas. Access to power supply will definitely facilitate computerization in the far flung areas which in turn will benefit good governance in the country. Power supply round the clock was just a dream among the rural consumers and remains so even today in many parts of the country. The Rajasthan Government has transformed this dream into reality.

This project, has transformed the lives of the poor by providing what is not easily available - improvising the facilities for children’s education, enabling hospitals to save the lives of people, helping the industries to enhance the employment opportunities among the needy, providing skill upliftment programmes through ICT to the local youths and increasing the income of rural masses. Several state government representatives like, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, etc have already visited Rajasthan for studying the implementation and benefits of ‘FRP’ project. Similar activities have already been initiated (partially or in full).

Many villages have transformed community participation into income generation activities with the help of the district administration. The industries located in the rural areas now no longer look for greener pastures in the urban towns. The rural consumers were at par to the urban consumers. Thus the disparity between rural and urban consumers was removed. This reduction in inequality has retained the skilled workers in the rural areas and helped in reaching the trickle-down effects to the grass root levels.  

Increased monitoring and regular, monthly energy audit for identifying areas in which T&D losses were found had brought in substantial control in the thefts. Targeting of irregular consumers through raids in order to nab the miscreants had been intensified. Action was taken against miscreants who broke equipments such as special type of distribution transformers, ABC cable and push fit meters. With intensive and consistent efforts being made to widen the scope of participatory base of people the system will become self-sustainable.

Lessons Learnt

Power Reforms of Rajasthan has created a rippling effect in the rural interior of the state. On a close observation, the project seems promising with huge potentials for activating the community participation. The project envisages the distribution loss reduction by about 20%, thereby saving of energy to the tune of 1000 MW. This will be equivalent to the additional installation of new power generation project of 1000 MW capacity.

However the project may not be sustainable in the long term. The state needs to strengthen the vertical and horizontal linkages. Water has been a constant source of worry in most parts of Rajasthan. There needs to be an inter-sectoral and inter-regional linkage established and one needs to work seriously on the areas of inter-phase. While making power available to the poor, it would be an exercise in futile if this does not get translated into expansion of employment opportunities. While the community members at the grass root level seemed to appreciate the uninterrupted power supply round the clock but at the same time there were pockets of resentment among the village community regarding the huge inflated bills that they had to pay as monthly electricity charges now.

It is important to enhance the livelihood opportunities of the local people. This fact was also attested by a few of the senior officials during the course of discussion. The process of power reforms has started yielding results but will soon die a natural death if not assisted by the other sectors. Once the euphoria stage is over, people are bound to resent the inflated bills, no water and little employment opportunities.

Methodology

The methodology comprised of three components:

Field visits were conducted in order to collect primary sources of information and make a comparative analysis between micro level observations with macro level data. Informal communication system and semi-structured interviews were held. Discussions on the basis of a structured questionnaire were also conducted among the various stakeholders for obtaining a wider coverage of viewpoint. The questionnaire was designed in a manner such that it encompassed financial and service sustainability & replicability, its potentials for transparency, accountability and social participation.

A detailed informal group discussion helped in creating an environment of freedom where positive suggestions were put forward by the local community based on their experiences. Women in the villages were especially enthusiastic in discussing their problems and revealing their apprehensions. Most of the discussions were based upon open and informal meetings raising a set of queries.

The field visit discussions were held with various stakeholders and the target group. The officials from the power sector where discussions were held include the following:

Officials of the Government of Rajasthan

Within the limitations of time and distance three villages were selected, one from the district of Jaipur and two were from Ajmer District. The villages selected include Vidhani (Jaipur), Ganahera (Ajmer) and Kadel (Ajmer). In addition to the consumers, the local Panchayat Raj Representatives, utility providers, community members including, children, women, police, teachers and people from all walks of life were contacted. 

Vidhani Village

Ganahera Village, Ajmer

Kadel Village, Ajmer

 Diagrammatic Representation of Facts

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NFHS-3(National Family Health Survey)2007: 2005–06, India, Vol I, September 2007

Rajasthan Poverty (2001):

SPMVJFSA (Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Vijay Jyoti Feeder Sudhar Abhiyan), 2007

Rajasthan Power Sector (Feeder Renovation Program) November 2007

The Hindu (2007): 16 December, 2007

UN Poverty Level, Internet Sources:

Wells for India (2001): http://wellsforindia.org/whoarewe/whoarewe.htm