The poor must be included as change agents in the roadmap for clean energy | The Indian Express

The poor must be included as change agents in the roadmap for clean energy | The Indian Express

Written by Ashwini K Swain, Anna Agarwal, Parth Bhatia |Updated: July 4, 2019 6:46:55 am

Swain is executive director at Centre for Energy, Environment & Resources, New Delhi.

The poor must be included as change agents in the roadmap for clean energy

The immediate priority is to better target central aid for the poor. We identify three ideas that build and improve existing programmes, and should be prioritised by the Ministry of Finance in making budgetary allocations. All are important for ensuring the welfare of the poor.

Making the poor a part of this electricity future will require a shift in India’s approach to electricity access, away from “redistributive welfarism” that prioritises subsidised costs for the poor at the cost of quality of service.

The UNION Power minister has reasserted the government’s commitment to an electricity future with uninterrupted supply for all, increasingly from renewable energy sources. Simultaneously, institutional rearrangements are being pushed to enable a transition to this future. Will the poor be a part of this electricity future, with reliable supply and from cleaner sources? The answer depends on how they are placed — as welfare beneficiaries or change agents.