Changing the minister or bringing in a new face is certainly not the panacea for the chronic power shortage which has had a destabilizing effect on the country as a whole. It is immaterial whether the minister resigned or he was sacked. The government has done something but not in the areas where quick action was needed to boost power generation and distribution.

The predecessor of the dismissed minister had to go due to "interference from the PMO" when he was presiding over the slumping sector, and Talukder is reported to have spent much of the four months since his taking office in bureaucratic wrangling, a part of which stemmed from a tussle between him and the energy secretary. Clearly, he could not address the real issues.

The experiences of the two state ministers indicate that it is not enough to name a minister and hope for the system to run efficiently. It seems the state minister was not given the mandate to establish his authority on the sector and manage everything according to his plan. The result has been another unceremonious exit. The state minister was destined to fail in a sector where almost everything has been going wrong.

The government has not succeeded in enhancing power generation, though there has been a substantial rise in consumption. The distribution network has been expanded without a corresponding increase in power production. And there are countless reports of corruption and mismanagement resulting from political interference and manipulation.

The government cannot expect the desired results without getting at the root of the power crisis which is but a big gap between supply and demand. Unless this gap is bridged, the situation will not improve -- a plain truth that has been either evaded or buried under the debris of political manipulation.