Following the regular power cuts in Udaipur and all over the state, a handful of social activists of Jago Party gathered around the office of Electricity Board at Patel Circle, Udaipur and raised some serious questions to the superintendent engineer B. Ranawat.

On behalf of the common man, Jago’s senior activists including Jitendra Lodha – District President, Vijay Singh Kachhawa, District President (city) and Dinesh Kalal with over dozens of members went inside Ranawat’s chamber and bombarded him with serious questions regarding the regular & irregular power cuts and the non-responsive & careless behavior of department officials.

Jitendra Lodha said “We are here to ask questions on behalf of local residents of Udaipur. The regular power cut has thrown our lives off-gear and administration has to answer”

The whole conversation is in Hindi and is recorded by UT. Below is the translated piece:

Question to B Ranawat (Superintendent Engineer Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd.)

Who is responsible for the unorganized cut-off in power supply? B Ranawat: We follow a distribution pattern for the entire state. Since we have a single grid, so when there is an overload on the grid, we get emails or phone calls from Ajmer or Jaipur and we initiate the power-cut. Why are the salaries of AVVNL employees not deducted for the uninformed/irregular power cut-offs? B Ranawat: NO Answer Who should be held responsible for the non-answering of public’s calls and the negligent behavior of the board? B Ranawat: We timely attend the public calls and we also have a toll-free helpline number- “1912” where people can call from 8 Am-8 Pm and register their complaints with us. Is RSEB/AVVNL waiting for a mass public revolt? B Ranawat: NO Answer Why is the cut-off being staged as a preparation for the upcoming monsoon? B Ranawat: See, every year we have to prepare for monsoon season and repair our electric poles and distribution lines, and for that we have to cut the power supplies in order to work on them. Counter Question – Then why are there so many areas with loose electric/high tension wires? Further, why are a lot of electric poles still in a bad condition? B Ranawat: It is not so, the repair work is still in progress. And no electric pole in the city is in very bad condition. Who can provide a guarantee for a safe electricity distribution during the rains/monsoon? B Ranawat: We cannot guarantee anything during flood situations. Floods are a natural calamity. Are your homes also being affected with the recent power cut-offs? B Ranawat: Yes, our houses, like every other citizen’s house in Udaipur, are being affected by the cut. Will the government compensate for the losses faced by different manufacturers and merchants due to the power cuts? B Ranawat: We are a corporation and we supply electricity on certain terms and conditions. Like other people, manufacturers are also bound by the same terms & conditions. It has been reported by people that the administration acts does not give satisfactory answers and even uses abusive language with people who complain against them. What is your take on the issue? B Ranawat: We are not aware of any such situation. Counter Question – What if we give you a proof of such misconduct in future? Will an action be taken against the official? B Ranawat: Yes, I will personally look into the matter. Why is the complaint number system not unorganized? B Ranawat: That’s not right. We record every complaint with the phone number of the person who has registered the complaint. And we get back to them immediately after the complaint is registered.

He added that the condition in Udaipur is far better than other areas of Rajasthan like Dausa and many other remote areas.

Report by Sohail Khan and Divye Walwani