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| Power blues push industries to brink of collapse | | | CHAMAN KAUL
JAMMU, May 27: Despite the fact that power is life line of industry, for the last sixty years the condition of power infrastructure of industrial areas of Jammu remains unaltered. Before 30 years when there was only 6MW power needed by the industry through the existing infrastructure is even today supplying 30MW with the same 30 year old of infrastructure. Uninterrupted supply of power for 24 hours could have changed the scenario of the dying industry of Jammu but instead of ensuing facilities to industrial sector for its survival several taxes and hard bindings by Pollution Control Board (PCB), Labour Department in terms of provident fund and Employees Service Insurance (ESI) and Weights and Measurement department have added salt to their wounds by fixing small industrial unit holder on one or the other pretext.
Power Development Department (PDD) is risking 132KV grid station and 33KV receiving station by not protecting it in proper way which could also endanger 220 KV Galadni grid station, sources informed and added that three feeders serving local population is being pounced upon the industrialists in the name of power theft whereas in realty there is no question of power theft as electronic metering has been done across the entire industrial sector.
“Industrialists are forced to wall by not addressing their legitimate problems during the budget session of 2008-09 on the floor of house it was decided that the PF will charged to those unit having more than 10 employees whereas in practical PF is being charged even to those units having only five employees, 3% subsidy to old units were sanctioned as these old units did not get any concession or subsidy by central government and to receive payments from various government departments separate treasury should be installed but after at the end of one year and two months not a single decision was not implemented, said President Association of Small Scale Industries, Tejwant Singh Reen.
He informed that on 25th December 2008 it was decided by the government that electricity duty out of total 22% only 8% will be paid by industrialists whereas 14% will be paid by government and of which about Rs 5 crores were released out of which Rs 46 lakhs were given to a single unit which speaks the volumes of the concern by authorities for the uplifting of industrial sector. He said that one hour power cut costs about 50 lakhs to a single unit in terms of production, demand charges, laborer, wages and salary.
To minimize the power allied problems for the industrialists a scheme was formulated and forwarded to Chief Engineer PDD Planning Wing at Galadni and is pending for the last six months. Scheme suggested that instead of supplying power from a single transformer to a number of units, transformer of small capacity should be installed for two to three units to avoid unprecedented power cuts, suspending of work in whole area and to earn revenue without power theft, sources placed in industries revealed.
“From going to one department to another have wasted my time from 9AM to 1:30 PM and now I reached to my unit to start working”, said a industrialist Ganesh Kaul and added as for as payments are concerned cheques are still lying pending at Poonch treasury but Minister of Finance in his statement has said that all the payments to industrialists have been cleared. He said that even FDRs worth 30 crores of security deposit with government are not being either used by government or being adjusted with the industrialists accounts causing huge losses. It is worth to mention that Drabu Committee was constituted to look in the matter which suggested that no security should be taken from the industrialists.
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