Written by: Ayushi Singh (Intern)
Edited by: Anubhav Yadav (Content Head & Developer)
The High Court of Punjab and Haryana affirmed that the intended move by the government in Chandigarh to privatize energy is in direct contrast to the ‘Sab Ka Saath Saath Ka Vikas’ national objective, hearing a plea by U.T. Power men Union opposing the privatization decision in UT, in Chandigarh. The bench observed: “The planned privatization is at direct disagreement with the country’s objective, the Sab Ka Saath Sab Ka Vikas.” In this urgent request, application was made to suspend further processes concerning energy privatization in UT, Chandigarh, including the opening and conclusion of tender proposals, till the final written petition was received.
“With great pain and fear, we are not able to reconcile ourselves to the fact that the administration has an excessive haste to pass on the business department to private entities in this period of history, when the world has a lot of struggles with this fatal virus and there is not a single oxygen or an ICU, a long queue on cremation grounds and no place in hospitals. The Bench stated that privatization fell flat since the department not only produced profits, but also continuously complemented high levels of customer satisfaction and played a major role in preserving the City Beautiful.
The Court, in its observation, addressed the planned action of privatizing the power system; “What is the goal of creating UT Chandigarh’s engineering branch, and what the engineer’s branch was unable to do was not evident from the arguments given for the parties by trained lawyers. The applicant is thus certain that the programme ‘Atamnirbhar Bharat Abiyan’ or ‘Self-Reliant India’ does not include the department as a profiteering organization. Literate counsel for the parties on this issue does not provide meaningful help. The UT government’s engineering wing is like public sector enterprises, which the Government of India founded to establish a nation that is self-sufficient and to master our destiny. When Prime Minister Nehru opened the Bhakhra Nangal Dam in October 1963, he named the dam “the temple of modern India.” India’s dependency on the rest of the world was eliminated by the ideology behind building the same.
Furthermore, we think that “the notion of creating such wings is equitable in order to incorporate those sectors of society which need aid. The notion of “Economic Justice” was also incorporated in the ideology of inclusiveness as anticipated by Dr. Ambedkar in the Preamble. It becomes necessary for the government to provide the security of livelihoods for these institutions, in order to attain this vision of the Constitution as one of the biggest creators in our nation, especially in insecure times in which we live. They give a security network that helps society retreat from the neediest to dream of a better future that makes the individual aspiring in the end to be part of the Indian dream. All of this is a social purpose and not a desire for profit”.