Punjab to Gradually End Free Power Purchases, Aims for Fiscal Prudence

सही उत्तर: B

Statement 1 is incorrect. While many states have adopted their own FRBM Acts, the Central FRBM Act, 2003, specifically applies to the Central Government. State FRBM Acts are enacted by individual states, often guided by recommendations from the Finance Commission, but are not uniformly mandated by the Central FRBM Act. Statement 2 is correct. Explicit subsidies involve direct financial outlays (e.g., direct benefit transfer for LPG), while implicit subsidies are indirect (e.g., below-cost pricing of electricity or water, tax breaks). Statement 3 is correct. Free or highly subsidized power for agriculture encourages excessive pumping of groundwater, leading to rapid depletion, especially in states with intensive agriculture like Punjab.

सही उत्तर: D

Statement D is incorrect. UDAY's primary objectives were financial and operational turnaround of DISCOMs, not their mandatory complete privatization. While it encouraged efficiency and some reforms, it did not mandate privatization. Statements A, B, and C are correct. UDAY aimed to address the chronic financial health of DISCOMs by allowing states to take over debt, reduce AT&C losses, and implement various operational improvements.

सही उत्तर: A

Statements 1, 2, and 3 are correct. Phasing out free power directly addresses the financial drain on DISCOMs (1), incentivizes farmers to use water more judiciously and consider less water-intensive crops (2), and reduces the subsidy burden on state exchequers, thereby improving fiscal health (3). Statement 4 is less likely to be a direct and immediate long-term benefit. While higher electricity costs might push some farmers towards solar pumps, the primary driver for renewable energy adoption is often government subsidies for such technologies, not just the removal of free conventional power. The immediate impact would be on reducing consumption rather than necessarily shifting to renewables on a large scale without additional incentives.

सही उत्तर: A

Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. State governments often resort to populist measures like free power to gain political mileage, which creates a dilemma with fiscal prudence. The reason for this dilemma is that such schemes, while beneficial to certain sections, are revenue-draining and add to the state's expenditure without direct revenue generation, thus impacting fiscal health.