Moribund Ministries Flushed With Funds

Every year, come January, ministries go overdrive with their unfinished projects and unspent allocated funds. That is because the allocations are for the 12-month period April-March and first 9 months usually pass in warming up and frenetic activity is seen during the last quarter of the financial year (January-March). Reports usually appear about unspent funds in January and then the war cry is given.
One such report in Times of India 'Ministries sitting in funds, may loose unspent chunk' is an eye-opener. The worst ranking ministries are civil aviation 1%( Rs130 crores or $30 million), steel 16% ( Rs45 crores or $10 million), Non-conventional energy 18%( Rs597 crores or $130 million) and tourism 27%( Rs830 crores or $180 million) besides others who have not spent even 40% of allocated funds. So the usual excuse of funds shortage cannot be forked out for miserable progress of these ministries. It is the lethargy and inefficiency of the concerned ministries which is responsible for such a deplorable state of affairs despite a separate Expenditure ministry being there for monitoring expenditures.
I find the non-performance of the ministry of non-conventional energy, tourism and steel particularly very disappointing. India is heavily dependent upon imports for its oil needs and exploiting non-conventional energy can mitigate to some extent its energy crisis. Poor performance in such crucial areas is therefore alarming and unpardonable. So is the case with the steel ministry as growth of steel industry holds the key to removing infrastructural weakness. In case of tourism which has got such a huge potential, opportunities are being frittered away while other competing nations benefit out of our inaction.
Why cannot the concerned officials be held responsible for their callousness and inefficiency? The slogan should be 'Perform or perish' and anyone failing including ministers should be shown the door.
What do you say?

The Newly-rechristened Ministry Of New And Renewable Energy

'Rose smells sweet - call it by any name' is the famous quote. But some subscribe to the belief that whether the intrinsic worth of anything remained strong or not, a mere change of name does enhance it. The ministry of non-conventional energy sources of Government of India has been given a new name - Ministry of new and renewable energy. Though the ministry has the responsibility to facilitate the development of non-conventional energy sources in view of India's own oil supply being far less than the demand and the other sources like coal getting depleted fast, it is one of the ministries lowest in the ladder of political or financial power. The petroleum and natural gas ministry officials supported the name change and said "The new name gives a more positive outlook compared to the earlier name."
Let us all hope so. We are very fond of changing names without any rhyme or reason. The three metros earlier known by their names Bombay, Madras and Calcutta have become Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. I have not seen any perceptible change in the quality of life in these metros except that a lot of stationery, signboards, visiting cards and records had to be changed involving expenditures of several hundred crores.As far as the change of name of the ministry from the ministry of non-conventional energy sources to the new one, the industry has been crying hoarse that it gave out a negative message.
I think the name indeed is not striking. But it is a sad commentary of how we function if we could not make much headway in popularising or researching new and renewable energy sources merely because the name was uninspiring. It is a classic example of the saying "A bad workman quarrels with his tools". I hope the new name of the ministry will inspire and revitalise all so that our dependence on conventional source of energy gets reduced.
It should not turn out to be a case of 'an old wine in a new bottle'!

Renewable Energy Holds Out Hope - Part Two

The worldwide wind turbine capacity has climbed to a whopping 60,000 megawatts during 2005. The industry has developed large and efficient turbines of 4 to 6 MW. The average cost of generation is working to as low as Rs2-3.25 (four cents to seven cents) per kilowatt-hour. The social benefit of pollution control by this source of energy is a bonus for the already competitive cost of power. India has vast stretches of land where optimum wind speed almost throughout the year is available for free. Instead of subsidising coal-based power, the subsidy can be given perhaps more liberally for wind power as that would kill two birds in one shot.
The other renewable energy which could be commercialised on a much higher scale is solar energy. Using solar cells or photovoltaics, global generation was merely 5000 MW during 2005. However, with the breakthrough in technologies of making cheaper photovoltaics, the cost of generation has come down to Rs9-11 per kwh - almost four times the cost of coal-based electricity. With an investment of just $100 (Rs4600), people in Kenya prefer solar power to conventional power. In India, the low cost photovoltaics should be mass-produced so as to reach rural areas and inaccessible terrains easily.Innovative ideas invariably get rejected by traditional thinking.
The bureaucrats, the whole political class and power consultants will have to change their mindset.Are they ready?