Poll for state power engineers’ assn’s executive body concludes

Puneet Kumar, Superintendent Engineer (SE) Operations (UHBVN Yamunanagar), was elected president, while Ravinder Ghanghas, Executive Engineer (XEN) P&D (DHBVN), was elected general secretary of the Haryana Power Engineers’ Association (HPEA).

The biennial central executive elections were conducted on Saturday at Chaudhary Ranbir Singh Auditorium of the Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology (GJUST) here.

Announcing the results, the returning officer SK Garg said Puneet Sharma, SDO, HVPN (Panchkula), was elected chief organizing secretary. Other members elected included Lalit Kumar, Virender Rana, Baljeet Beniwal, and Sonu Yadav from HVPN; Ashish Gautam, Jatin Jangra, Yashpal Rana, and Satish Goyat from UHBVN; and Sudeep Bamal, Manmohan Jeet Singh Mann, Rahul Mehla, and Sumit Kumar from the DHBVN.

The remaining posts will be filled through a consensus at a subsequent meeting. After the elections, all 15 elected representatives were administered the oath of office and confidentiality.

Power engineers from across Haryana, representing the Haryana Power Transmission Corporation, Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN), and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), participated in large numbers.

The elections were held under the supervision of returning officers SK Garg and Daljit Singh.

Outgoing state president engineer Vijender Lamba and general secretary Engineer Anil Nagar addressed the annual general meeting before the election process began. They presented an account of the outgoing executive's tenure and highlighted significant achievements.

Lamba emphasized the engineers' pivotal role in reducing line losses to 11 per cent across the state, swiftly restoring power during outages and improving revenue recovery. These efforts, he said, had helped maintain stable electricity rates for the public.

Chairman of the All-India Power Engineers Federation, Shailendra Dubey, raised concerns about the government's increasing focus on privatising the public power sector. He alleged that misleading data was being created to justify privatisation, with Chandigarh Power Utility being a recent example. Dubey assured them that power engineers across the country were united and opposed any such steps by the government.

Prominent attendees at the event included HPEA patron RS Chhokar, former president BS Boora and Rampal, as well as Daljit Singh, Ashish Modi, Salauddin Kagdana, Hitender Bajaj, and Narayan Prakash Singh.