Whose
Interest ?
--------------------
Government
officers are often faced with following difficult questions, while taking
decisions :
----------------------------------------------------------------
While taking
this decision, whose interest am I protecting ?
·
Interest
of “ 1 million “ persons or of “ 1,000 million “
persons ?
·
The
“ Vested interest of a small minority “ and for a “ short duration “ , as
against the “ Social interest of a vast majority “ which is of a “ long term
duration “ ?
[
Ignore the numbers - figures will vary from case to case ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Following
are some recent examples :
·
French
President Macron announced at WEF – Davos , two days back :
“
France will shut down ALL of its coal-based Power plants, by year 2021 “
President Macron said he wanted to “make France a
model in the fight against climate change,” as one of five pillars in his plans
to reform the economy.
I have a
feeling that he will be followed by similar announcements by leaders of other
EU countries , for the following reasons :
Across the European Union, the economic tide is
already turning against coal power : more than half of the bloc’s 619
coal-powered plants are losing money, according to a report. A combination of rapidly falling
prices for renewables and air pollution laws are pushing them out of business.
·
US
President, Trump levied a 30 % import duty on Solar Panels
.
·
Closer
at home in India :
The Directorate General
of Safeguards Duty (DGS), in its preliminary report investigating the dumping
of solar cells, (whether or not assembled in modules or panels), has suggested
a 70 per cent safeguards duty on imports from China. The DGS has identified ‘serious injury’ to the
domestic industry caused due to increasing imports and declining prices of
Chinese solar panels.
NTPC , whose coal-based power plants are the chief
culprit in causing air pollution ( and most of which are operating well below
the optimum PLF – Plant Load Factor – and producing power at Rs 3.19 / kwh ),
has come out with a tender to buy-out another 12-18 coal-based power plants ,
which are “ stressed assets “ !
A Parliamentary Committee wants to stop sale of Air
India and wants it to continue making losses ( approx. Rs 6000 cr / year ) for
another 5 years !
How come neither our legislators , nor our
administrators , are asking :
·
What
is the trade-off between ,
# Imported Solar Panels / Cells, helping India to bring down Solar
Power tariff
to ( say ) Re 1 / kwh by 2022 and turning India into a “ Low Cost Economy “
Vs:
Protecting the jobs of a few thousand persons employed by local
manufacturers
of Solar Cells – Modules – Panels ?
# Saving the NPA of a few banks which have lent money to those
stalled / idling
Coal-based
power plants of Private Sector,
Vs :
Continuing to supply dirty power to homes / industries for Rs 3.19 / kwh ?
It seems to me that when it comes to “
Globalization vs Protectionism “, we have different standards !
For thousands of years, Indian Ethos has been :
·
A person must sacrifice for saving his family
·
A family must sacrifice for saving the community
·
A community must sacrifice for saving the country
It is high time we introduce this VALUE SYSTEM in our
school syllabus
27 Jan 2018
www.hemenparekh.in
/ blogs
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