Regardless of its impracticality, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi has wasted no time in endorsing the idea and assured party leaders the government will somehow produce the requisite Rs 830 crore to reimburse the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB). With Joshi appearing so eager to carry out his chief's commands, only two things stand in the way of this financially disastrous step.

The Sena has taken the acquiescence of its coalition ally, the BJP, for granted once again. Despite recent public protests over the lack of consultation on major government decisions, BJPleaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde who looks after energy, were caught unawares by Thackeray's announcement. They would certainly appreciate the populist value of free electricity and hope to gain from it when Assembly elections come round in 18 months' time. However, injured self-esteem, if not genuine concern about the financial implications, could still prompt action from the BJP to stall the decision.

As powerful as is the urge to win votes, it should not prevail against the weight of good advice being pressed on the government from several other quarters. The World Bank, for one, made it very plain to Munde and senior bureaucrats during their recent Washington visit, that loans for Maharashtra's power sector are contingent on reform of the MSEB along the lines of the recommendations of an expert committee. The Shiv Sena's populism reinforces the case for carrying out reforms on an urgent basis. An essential step towards making the board's operations commercially viable is toinsulate it from political interference by making it an autonomous body.

Privatisation of distribution would take electricity further out of harm's way. Another pending measure is the rationalisation of tariffs which would mean, among other things, raising the cost of electricity for farmers severalfold. The MSEB, overburdened by subsidies and huge outstandings, is already in the red and required to be bailed out by the government. There is an obvious lesson in the fact that it has been next to impossible to raise loans in the market for other state corporations without government guarantees. At the same time, high government expenditure combined with the economic recession is pushing Maharashtra's finances close to the edge. For all these reasons, bureaucrats, if not politicians, recognise the government is in no position to take on further obligations. It is understood that the Governor of Maharashtra is also concerned about the state's straitened financial circumstances. One hopes the voices of sanitywill be heard before Maharashtra is driven further down the treacherous slope towards insolvency.