Editorial 1: A House of Dubious Firsts
Context:
- New Parliament building is going to be inaugurated on 28th of May 2023. The Parliament is considered as the highest panchayat and the temple of democracy.
Unprecedented decline of the Indian Parliament:
- MPs denied their right to vote by “division”:
- When a Bill is being passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, every member has the right to ask for a vote by “division” and the presiding officer is duty-bound to ask for voting on the issue.
- However, in case of three Farm Laws in 2020, division was not granted and passed by voice vote. The presiding officer bypassed every rule and overturned every precedent. Marine Aids to Navigation Bill, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill faced similar fate in 2021.
- Unprecedented Renomination of a Nominated MP for the same term:
- A nominated member to the Rajya Sabha in 2016. Same member fought 2021 West Bengal elections after resigning from his nominated seat. Same member was re-nominated after losing the elections in three months. This was the first time a person had been nominated twice for the same term for the same vacated seat for the remaining term, while fighting an election in between.
- Treasury Benches shout slogans and disrupt:
- In the Budget Session, the Lok Sabha discusses the Demand for Grants for five ministries, while the remaining ministries are clubbed (guillotined) and voted on together. This year, this was passed for all ministries with no discussion. This also happened in 2004-05 and 2013-14, but in 2004-05, no-confidence motion was passed while in 2013-14, Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha took this decision, in view of impending state elections.
- However, this time Treasury benches were shouting slogans in the Rajya Sabha, leading to the Budget session being a washout.
- In the Budget Session, the Lok Sabha discusses the Demand for Grants for five ministries, while the remaining ministries are clubbed (guillotined) and voted on together. This year, this was passed for all ministries with no discussion. This also happened in 2004-05 and 2013-14, but in 2004-05, no-confidence motion was passed while in 2013-14, Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha took this decision, in view of impending state elections.
- No Deputy Speaker in Lok Sabha even after four years:
- Article 93 of the Constitution states that the Lok Sabha must select a Speaker and Deputy Speaker promptly after a government takes charge. Four years and still no Deputy Speaker. Unprecedented.
- B R Ambedkar stressed the importance of the Deputy Speaker’s role in maintaining the Speaker’s independence from the executive branch.
- Article 93 of the Constitution states that the Lok Sabha must select a Speaker and Deputy Speaker promptly after a government takes charge. Four years and still no Deputy Speaker. Unprecedented.
- Passing non-money matters in Finance Bills:
- This Union government has started the unholy practice of sneaking non-money related matters into the Finance Bill, to avoid parliamentary scrutiny. For instance, the Finance Bill of 2016 to amend the Reserve Bank of India Act of 1934, Finance Bill 2017 on tribunals and 2018 Finance Bill had half of the provisions unrelated to taxation.
Statistics on Parliamentary Functioning:
- Shorter Sessions: The Budget Session of Parliament for 2021 ended two weeks before the planned time due to impending state assembly elections.
- The Budget session of 2020, 18 days Monsoon session and the winter session was cancelled due to the Pandemic.
- Bypassing Legislative Scrutiny: High rate of guillotines, full budget washout and none of the 13 bills was referred to any parliamentary committee for examination in the recent budget session.
- For instance, passing of the Government of NCT of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021
- Falling importance of Parliamentary Committees:
- As per PRS data, Bills referred to Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) declined from 71% in the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14) to 27% in the 16th Lok Sabha and just 11% in the 17th Lok Sabha (2019-present).
- High Rate of Disruptions:
- A PRS (PRS Legislative Research) report says during the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14), frequent disruptions of Parliamentary proceedings have resulted in the Lok Sabha working for 61% and Rajya Sabha for 66% of its scheduled time. While the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-19) lost 16% of its scheduled time to disruptions, better than the 15th Lok Sabha (37%), but worse than the 14th Lok Sabha (13%).
Suggestions:
- Enforcement of a code of conduct
- It will be for MPs and MLAs to prevent disruption.
- There must be strict adherence to the code of conduct for MPs and MLAs so that disruption of proceedings ceases to be an option.
- Bring Transparency to the Clash of Interests:
- Before legislation is passed, various publics and groups find a way to articulate their viewpoints to key political decision-makers.
- Increase in the working days:
- Our legislature should meet throughout the year, like the parliaments of most developed democracies.
- Measuring Indices: A parliamentary disruption index should be created as a measure to monitor disruptions in legislatures and check indiscipline.
- Modify the Anti-Defection Law: Currently, MPs who deviate from their parties’ position earn a fatal whipping and lose their seats.
- There should be modifications to the anti-defection law so that it applies only in cases where the government’s survival is at stake.
- Allow more private member bills: This will allow a variety of ideas to bubble up from the grassroots.
UK Model of Parliament Working
- In the UK, Parliament meets over 100 days a year & opposition parties get 20 days on which they decide the agenda for discussion.
- The main opposition party gets 17 days and the remaining three days are given to the second-largest opposition party.
- In the UK, the PM is bound by a constitutional convention to respond to questions directly posed to him by MPs.
- Canada also has a similar concept of opposition days.
Editorial 2: A way out of the coal trap
Context:
- India plans to stop building new coal-fired power plants, apart from those already in the pipeline, by removing a key clause from the final draft of its National Electricity Policy (NEP), in a major boost to fight climate change.
Status of Coal based Thermal power in India:
- India is the world’s second largest coal producer and importer, with the world’s fourth largest reserves, but a steep surge in power demand means supplies are no longer enough.
- Fossil fuel derived energy generation: Thermal power based on fossil fuel such as coal, natural gas and diesel accounts for 80% of the country's generation.
- Coal accounts for almost 50% share in the total installed electricity generation capacity in India.
- As per Central Electricity Authority (CEA), in order to meet the power demand in 2029-30, an additional capacity of about 16,000 MW of coal-based capacity would be required, which would be over and above the capacity of about 27,000 MW already under construction
Potential of Power generation in India:
- Coal accounts for 55% of the country’s energy needs.
- Commercial primary energy consumption in India has grown by about 700% in the last four decades.
- The current per capita commercial primary energy consumption in India is about 350 kgoe/year which is well below that of developed countries.
- According to BP Energy Outlook 2019, coal’s share in India’s primary energy consumption will decline from 56% in 2017 to 48% in 2040.
- India’s peak power demand would reach 301 GW by 2030, if it grows at an annual growth rate of 5%.
- India’s planned solar capacity can cover much of it, as projections indicate a quadrupling of solar capacity from 109 GW to 392 GW by 2030.
- Further, it will lead to annual savings of Rs 43,219 crore by investing in renewables and storage.
- Renewable sources, including small hydro, pumped hydro, solar, wind, and biomass, are expected to account for 31% of the power mix in 2030, compared to the current 12%.
Issues of Concern:
- Impending Coal crisis: India's coal-fired plants, which account for more than 70% of national power output, may have to increase imports by 50% to 60% in April-December 2023, according to CRISIL, to "avert a possible crisis".
- Plant Load Factor of the thermal power plants has declined from 78% in 2009-10 to 61% in 2018-19, despite the increase in generation capacity.
- Plant Load Factor (PLF) is the measure of the output of a power plant compared to the maximum output it could produce.
- Private and state-owned generators have the poorest PLF when compared with the central ones, causing rise in costs.
- Low PLF means that the thermal power plants have been lying idle, which may be due to non-availability of fuel (gas or coal), surplus capacity or low demand for power or demand being met by other sources.
- Inefficient capacity utilisation is the key problem as per Standing Committee on Energy report 2017, due to numerous issues in the power sector like:
- Weak financial conditions of discoms, leading to a decrease in demand for power and lesser utilisation of capacities
- Significant decrease in the solar tariff and its very low gestation period
- Share of hydropower has decreased from 25% in 2007-08 to about 13% in 2018-19 due to interstate river water conflicts.
- Poor Health of Discoms: Outstanding dues of discoms have increased despite the implementation of UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana).
- There are less new investments in the electricity sector (particularly by the private sector).
- High industrial/commercial tariff and the cross-subsidy regime have affected the competitiveness of the industrial and commercial sectors.
- Uneven distribution and high cost of renewable energy:
- For the discoms, the cost of purchasing power from a thermal power plant is around 75 to 80% of the total expenditure.
- NITI Aayog reported that poor states are comparatively less willing to purchase renewable electricity as their cost is higher.
- For the discoms, the cost of purchasing power from a thermal power plant is around 75 to 80% of the total expenditure.
- High AT&C (Aggregate Technical and Commercial) losses
- It is the measure of a combination of energy loss (technical loss, theft and inefficiency in billing) and commercial loss (default in payment and inefficiency in the collection).
- As of September 2019, the AT&C losses for 13 states are 21.4%.
Steps taken by the Government:
For the Coal Sector Development
- The Ministry of Coal in India has formulated an ambitious Action Plan for FY 2023-24, aimed at enhancing the production, efficiency, sustainability, and new technologies in the coal sector.
- In 2018, Ministry of Coal has launched UTTAM (Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal) App for coal quality monitoring.
- The app aims to ensure transparency and efficiency in coal quality monitoring process and bring coal governance closer to people.
- New Coal Linkage Policy has been approved to ensure adequate supply of the fuel to power plants through reverse auction.
- The new policy will help in ensuring fuel supplies to the power plants in an organised manner.
- Online Coal Clearances System to provide a single window access to its investors to submit online applications for all the permissions / clearances and approvals granted by Ministry of Coal.
- Coal Allocation Monitoring System (CAMS) is developed to monitor the allocation of coal by CIL to States, States to SNA and SNA to such consumers in a transparent manner.
- Opening up of commercial coal mining for Indian and foreign companies in the private sector.
- The CCEA approved the methodology for auction of coal mines/ blocks for sale of the commodity in 2018.
- Commercial mining of coal allowed, with 50 blocks to be offered to the private sector.
- Entry norms will be liberalised as it has done away with the regulation requiring power plants to use “washed” coal.
- Coal blocks to be offered to private companies on revenue sharing basis in place of fixed cost.
- Coal gasification/liquefaction to be incentivised through rebate in revenue share.
- Coal bed methane (CBM) extraction rights to be auctioned from Coal India’s coal mines.
For the Power Sector Development
- PLI scheme (a government’s incentive scheme) for 500 GWhr of storage.
- Saubhagya scheme ensures electricity connection to all un-electrified households in rural areas.
- Privatizing DISCOMs as done in Chandigarh and Dadra Nagar Haveli.
- Under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DUGJY), the Ministry of Power plans to supply power to 18,500 villages in three years. Off-grid or renewable energy options would provide electricity to 3,500 of these settlements.
- The rural electrification component of the previous scheme, the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), has been absorbed into the current scheme.
- Feeder separation, sub-transmission and distribution network strengthening, metering at all levels (input points, feeders, and distribution transformers), microgrid and off-grid distribution network, and rural electrification projects already sanctioned under the RGGVY to be completed are the major components of the new scheme.
- Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015: The act intends to ensure coal mining operations and coal production continuity by allocating coal mines and vesting the right, title, and interest in and over the land and mine infrastructure to winning bidders and allottees.
- This will aid in addressing the issue of power generation fuel shortages.
- The issue of transferring mining licenses and granting forest clearances to winning coal block bidders has been settled by the Indian government.
- By March 2016, it expects operations to begin in around ten more mines, relieving coal supplies for the mines' associated projects.
- In order to stimulate the development of solar rooftop systems, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is launching two national-level programs:
- Grid Connected Rooftop & Small Solar Power Plants Program and Off-Grid & Decentralised Solar Applications.
- Five new ultra mega power plants (UMPPs) using a plug-and-play technology, costing roughly Rs 1 lakh crore.
- India has launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme to provide energy and water security, de-dieselise the farm sector and generate additional income for farmers by producing solar power
Conclusion:
- The ongoing initiatives like introducing smart metres and network strengthening, empowering regulators would be critical to infuse payment discipline across the supply chain of the electricity sector and to keep cost recovery as a key metric. It will raise the GDP to help achieve India’s goal of becoming a $5Trillion economy by 2024. It will also help achieve Global Sustainable Development Goals and Paris agreement targets for renewable energy.