Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Priorities!

Yesterday evening, the Government in Tamil Nadu exploded a Diwali pataka on the unsuspecting electorate....By unveiling its " Use Less, Pay More" policy for power consumption.
In about 2 weeks from now, domestic consumption will necessarily have to be reduced by 20%, failing which families will have to shell out 50% more for every additional unit consumed.

The same holds good for shops, restaurants and other such low tension commercial & industrial users.
Heavy Industries and Software firms are to cut consumption by 40% and also, delink from the grid for the prescribed 4 hours in the evenings.
And the icing on the cake? The state will continue to experience scheduled power cuts as well as those of the unscheduled kind. Of course, h
ospitals, educational institutions, media houses, telephone exchanges, railway connections, milk processing units are all exempt.
And rightly so.
Also among those who will escape the axe are Embassies, Fertiliser Factories and.......*Gasp* Government Buildings. To think, I actually believed darkness provided the perfect cover for nefarious activities.....
But surprise of surprises!..... Temple festivals are also exempt...
Religion is indeed sustenance for the soul. And community celebrations, fun unlimited.

But since when did it sustain economic development or put food on the tables of the masses?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whoa! That's a novel way. Cut down or pay more!! Cost of power has gone up here in Kerala too.
Hmm... Government offices exempt?? Methinks that's where power is wasted the most!! :-( You should see all those fans and lights forever on and nobody around, all those chai and gossip sessions which never end!! :-( Not to mention the government quarters where power being free people feel switching off anything not in use is unnecessary.
My own Martians never switch off lights and fans!!!! I am the official Power Saver in my house!! ;-)

Gingerbread & Me said...

Very True Shail....
Though I can't say the same for my martian because he is almost never at home to waste power....Two days back, we had people come in from the electricity board and they were pretty shocked at our almost zero power consumption...Just when I was congratulating myself for being an efficient user, dsk pointed out that the meter wasn't working..
So much for my ebulience...:( :(

Anonymous said...

"..dsk pointed out that the meter wasn't working.." Oh what a let down for you! I have a whopping bill this time too and I cannot fathom what does it!! Aaargh! Ok now don't even think of telling me its the PC coz however high the bill PC is going to be on. How can I do without the net and all the blog-hopping????!!! :O

Gingerbread & Me said...

LOL Shail...I would never dream of telling you to ease up on the PC...:) :)...Not when I have a datacard to back me up when power cuts renders the modem redundant...
LOL
And blame the bill on the martians.LOLS...Everytime Dsk raises an eyebrow over our power bills, I just mutely point to the AC...:P :P