After BJP’s CM candidate Dr Kiran Bedi said that she would bring out a White Paper on the issues that Delhi faces, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) went a step ahead and released a White Paper on power reforms. According to senior leaders of the party, research is something that must be done before the elections and time should not be wasted on such things after coming to power. “The CM should focus on delivery not research,” said AAP spokesperson Ashish Khetan.
AAP leader Yogendra Yadav clarified that a White Paper is different from the manifesto. “While the manifesto has promises of what the party will do, a White Paper has the complete blueprint of how the party will do it,” he said. The party will now launch a White Paper on different issues in the run-up to the Delhi polls. On Wednesday, the party released their first White Paper on the power reforms. The party said that an audit of the accounts of private power distribution companies will be ordered if the party comes to power in Delhi Assembly elections.
Alleging monopoly of a few power distribution companies in Delhi, Ashish Khetan said competition will be encouraged among electricity suppliers so that consumers are benefitted. “There is monopoly of a few private power players in the national Capital and there is no competition at all. Once we come to power, we will ensure that there is competition in the power sector along with an A to Z reform,” Khetan said.
Khetan challenged BJP’s chief ministerial nominee Kiran Bedi to a debate on the issue of power and alleged overcharging by the discoms. He added, “Previous regimes in the national Capital didn’t order an audit of discoms and regulate the cost of power generation. These companies show transmission losses or theft of power and many such expenses but there has not been any audit. Once we come to power, we will order audit of these discoms.”
In the White Paper, the party said certain discoms have a debt of Rs 11,432 crore. There is a need for immediate intervention to square off this debt, it said. “There are three ways to address the issue. The first option is that the Centre provides the funds to liquidate regulatory assets, second one would be the Delhi Government making the payments to the discoms and last one would be consumers pay by way of increased tariff. So what is the stand of BJP on this issue,” asked the party through the White Paper.
The Kejriwal Government had in January last year ordered a CAG audit of the accounts of the discoms. Khetan also suggested that with the increasing demand of power in the national Capital, the Delhi Government should set up power generation plants.