It is no wonder that cities receive priorities over villages in almost all matters including the distribution of power. In fact the country is yet to come to a stage where villagers can cease to consider themselves lucky if they get power supply for at least two hours together and 10 hours a day. That they have a right to this basic utility service like the inhabitants of cities hardly occurs in their mind and also in the discourse of politicians and planners. The fact is that the country generates less electricity than the amount it needs. So the question of prioritising arises. Villagers are reasonable enough not to complain. But then if the manner of power supply continues to hurt their interests for long, they may not remain as docile as they are now.
That power outage is resorted to on account of its shortfall is understandable but what is the explanation for erratic supply? This has been plaguing the power consumers in villages for long. If power outage is a must, let it follow a routine. At least people will be accustomed to the timing of its outage and plan for their daily chores. Instead, if they have not the slightest idea of when power will go and then be restored, they cannot plan for their daily routine. What is most irritating and also highly damaging is the restoration of power after long hours and then snapping it within minutes. The moment people have just started something with the supply of power, it disappears as if to make a mockery of the whole process. This is frustrating and in case of electric and electronic gadgets and appliances can be damaging. Rural people procure such gadgets with their hard earned money and if any of those get damaged, its economic implications cannot be overlooked.
Today, rural economy is no longer driven by agriculture alone. Small and medium enterprises of varying nature, small food processing industries involving milk, fish and fruits, cold storages etc., do rely on electricity for their operation and storage. If power supply is stopped for long hours, these units suffer immensely. Uncertainty over power supply cannot be helpful for growth of industries of any size. Load-shedding of such proportions rather acts as a disincentive to their growth.
There was a time when it was very difficult to get power connection from a Palli Bidyut Samity - a form of rural cooperatives basically for transmission and distribution of electricity. Now the process has been made easier. But this approach has overlooked the generation capacity. There are too many consumers to be satisfied. In fact, the consumers are increasing at a geometric pace without a comparable rise in the generation of electricity. So there is the compulsion for power cut. It appears, the country will have to double or treble the amount of power generation if its villages can reasonably be supplied with power. As long as this does not happen, at least there should be fixed timing for load-shedding. And in no circumstances should the supply be so erratic that it causes damage to electric and electronic gadgets.
