|
It is proposed to set up a Central Monitoring System to monitor the progress of various ongoing power projects in the country. An indication to this effect was given by the Union Minister for Power, Shri P. M. Sayeed while addressing the Members of the Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry here last evening. The Minister said the purpose of the Monitoring System is to keep a tab as also to reduce losses that occur during transmission and distribution (T&D). Rounding off the discussions after various suggestions made by the Members of the Consultative Committee, Shri Sayeed said that the introduction of Information Technology (IT), particularly, in Distribution Management, would go a long way in the overall growth of the power sector. He said that transformers in each village and district is proposed to be linked with the internet to not only give information pertaining to the transmission and distribution but also about the pilferage. Expressing satisfaction at the growth of the power sector which was 7.5 percent during the first quarter of the year, the Power Minister mentioned that during the month of June, it stood at 9.3 percent, better than all other infrastructure. He said that Ministry of Power has sanctioned of Rs.1044 crore for the IT scheme under the APDRP. In this respect, the Minister called upon the States to fulfill their responsibilities since the States are the implementing agencies for all the Central schemes. Shri Sayeed stated that the implementation of IT will be done in a speedier way and shall be mainly directed in the distribution sector to the satisfaction of the consumers of the country. He asked people to be vigilant and alert in this respect. The topic of discussion was use of IT in Distribution Management.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Shri Sayeed said that India is a leading Nation as far as IT is concerned and this is high time that IT is used for making our system more efficient and transparent. The Power Minister said that the new system will help improve our billing which will integrate meter reading, billing, payment and collection as also eliminate the scope for tampering and manipulation.
Shri Sayeed said the use of IT is being planned in a big way for energy accounting with the objective of obtaining information about energy input and energy sold, to identify areas of high losses (theft) for follow up action and to use available information for network management and reduction in outage. He said that its promotion is being worked out in a big way for spot billing with hand held computer. It is also planned to work out consumer indexing and mapping with Geographical Information System (GIS). Each computer in the country will be provided with the facility of GIS through which we shall be able to know whether the transformer is working or not, how much power has come and how much power has gone through the transformer or whether the transformer is existing or not.
Almost all the Members of the Consultative Committee complimented the Power Ministry for the very useful presentation made on the behalf of the Ministry on IT in Distribution Management and said that the Ministry should go in a big way for implementing the new system and said that it should avoid a piecemeal approach in this respect. While some Members complained about the faulty meters, it was also mentioned that the installation of the IT system would help not only in the quality of power but also in rendering quality service to the consumers. They said that it would ultimately help reduce pilferage and losses. Some Members were of the view that since power is vital, use of IT in this sector is highly valued. They pointed out that the use of IT should be in the mindset of the people and urged the Government to avoid ‘plug and play’ attitude since use of IT is being made for improving the efficiency.
Members of the Consultative Committee who attended the meeting include: Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil, S/Shri M. M. Pallam Raju, Ramesh Bais, Suresh Chandel, Abdul Rashid Shaheen, K. M. Kader Mohideen, E. Ponnuswamy, Ajit Kumar Singh, Dharmendra Yadav, Basudeb Acharia, K. S. Rao (all Members of the Lok Sabha) and Ramadhar Kashyap, Suresh Bhardwaj, Kripal Parmar, Dipankar Mukherjee and Prof. Ram Deo Bhandary (all Members of Rajya Sabha).
The Secretary, Minister of Power, Shri R. V. Shahi and other senior officers of the Ministry were also present during the meeting.
EK/BKS/SK
|
