“Mr. Dhavalikar and his department must stop scapegoating citizens and start addressing their own failures. Every rupee spent by families on inverters is a reminder of what the government has not delivered. The minister should first ensure reliable, round-the-clock electricity. Only then will the need for inverters and generators disappear on its own. Until that day, any attempt to burden people with unnecessary permissions is nothing but bureaucratic harassment dressed up as public safety.
The latest diktat from Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar requiring permissions for inverters and generators is a classic case of misplaced priorities. Instead of fixing the root problem of power reliability, the state has chosen to make ordinary citizens jump through hoops, as if the fault lies with them for seeking a basic necessity — uninterrupted electricity.
Let us be clear. People do not buy inverters, generators, or solar back-ups out of luxury. They buy them because the state has failed to provide 24/7 electricity, a promise repeated over the years but never fulfilled.
In Goa, power outages are a part of daily life. Voltage fluctuations damage appliances. Blackouts disrupt work, schooling, and healthcare. Families who can afford it spend thousands of rupees on inverters, batteries, and generators. And they pay again every month for the electricity required to charge those very inverters. The ordinary Goan is already paying the price of government inefficiency.
Against this backdrop, for the minister to say people now need official permissions for inverters is not only tone-deaf but also insulting. Why should citizens be asked to reveal technical details like connection plans, the number of power points, or voltage capacity? This is nothing but red tape.
At best it will lead to harassment, at worst it will open the door for rent-seeking and corruption. The state must stop punishing citizens for creating their own coping mechanisms.
The minister justifies this decision by citing safety concerns.
He points to isolated incidents of accidents, often caused by reverse current from poorly installed inverters or generators. But instead of fixing the loopholes in regulation and enforcement, the state has chosen the laziest route: blaming the consumer.
If the department fears a reverse current, the solution is simple. Enforce better wiring standards. Mandate automatic changeover switches.
Train licensed electricians to ensure safe installations. It is the job of the electricity department to set the rules and enforce them professionally, not to make people run from pillar to post filling permission forms.
One-off accidents should never become an excuse for mass harassment. Every activity in modern life carries risk, from gas cylinders to cars on highways. But governments respond by tightening safety norms and inspections, not by making people apply for permission every time they want to cook a meal or start a car. Why should inverters and generators be any different?
The larger point here is accountability. Instead of acknowledging that the power department has failed to ensure reliable electricity, the minister is shifting responsibility onto citizens.
The tone of his remarks is clear: it is the people who are careless, the people who cause accidents, the people who must now be monitored.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that people would happily junk their inverters and generators tomorrow if they were assured of 24/7 uninterrupted power. Who wants the extra expense, the noise, the maintenance headaches? It is the government’s failure that has forced people into this situation.
At the very least, if the department insists on keeping this permission system, it should be purely online, simple, and non-intrusive.
Citizens should only be asked to inform the department of their inverter or generator, not submit detailed wiring layouts or technical specifications. The process should not delay or obstruct anyone from installing backup power. But the real solution is not a form. The real solution is reliable electricity.
Goa is not a backwards state. We pride ourselves on being progressive, literate, and modern. Yet our power supply is reminiscent of the 1980s. Politicians blame the weather, old infrastructure, and rising demand.
But excuses no longer cut it.
The public deserves results. When crores are spent on infrastructure projects, why can’t the government ensure uninterrupted power to homes and industries? Why must we continue to rely on private inverters when the state itself has the responsibility of delivering electricity as a basic service?
Mr. Dhavalikar and his department must stop scapegoating citizens and start addressing their own failures. Every rupee spent by families on inverters is a reminder of what the government has not delivered. The minister should first ensure reliable, round-the-clock electricity. Only then will the need for inverters and generators disappear on its own. Until that day, any attempt to burden people with unnecessary permissions is nothing but bureaucratic harassment dressed up as public safety.
Power is a basic right in a modern society. It is time the government treated it as such.
