124 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
no data as to the production, distribution and administration of electricity in India.
I am, therefore, glad that the subject of electricity in India has come up again for serious consideration. So far as I am able to visualize, the questions which this Committee must concern itself with are :—
(1) Whether electricity should be privately owned or whether it should be State-owned ?
(2) If it is to be privately owned, are there any conditions which it is necessary to impose so as to safeguard the interests of the public ?
(3) Whether the development responsibility for electricity should belong to the Central Government or to the Provincial Government ?
(4) If the responsibility is to be of the Central Government, what is the most efficacious method of administering it so as to provide cheap and abundant supply of electricity and avoid waste of resources ?
(5) If the responsibility is to be of the Provinces, whether the administration by the Provinces should be subordinate to an Intcr- Provincial Board with powers to advise and co-ordinate ?
Three Considerations
Every one of these questions has two sides. Each side has its protagonists. I do not wish to express my opinion at this stage. I have an open mind. But it is not an empty mind. All I wish to say is that in coming to our conclusions as to which is the better way of developing electricity we shall have to bear in mind three considerations :—
(1) Which of the two will give us power not at a cheaper but at the cheapest price,
(2) Which of the two will give us power which will not merely be sufficient but which will be abundant,
(3) Which of the two will enable India to be equipped with electricity by treating it on the same basis as a strategic Railway, that is to say, as an undertaking which must be started without consideration of immediate profit.
I emphasize these considerations because what India wants is an assured supply of power, cheap power and abundant power.