NEW DELHI-Power Programme Heading for a Crash

THE representatives of the Federation of Power Engineers met the wrong man last week when they attempted to make the government authority wise about what was ailing the power sector and what should really be done to set matters right. They found the energy minister, Ramchandran, rather impatient and in a hurry to end the talk with them when they tried to explain to him that the current noises about a crash programme for power would not achieve the desired results since it was based on wrong assumptions and lacked competent professional handling. This was no fault of Ramchandran, however, even if the power engineers were disappointed by his indifferent attitude to such a vital problem. It is fairly well known by now that Ramchandran is only the formal head of his ministry for routine administration work. Policy decisions and planning have been taken over by others in the government, among whom the industry minister, George Fernandes, is most active.