Electricity board's working hit amid shortage of staff

Ashok Raina

Kangra, February 29

Resentment prevails among consumers of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) here due to the alleged deterioration in its services. Consumers rue that the board’s complaint offices now get closed after 5 pm. Emergency services, too, have been withdrawn for want of field staff.

In Kangra subdivision, there are nearly 20,000 consumers and there is a gradual annual increase of at least 500 consumers. When technical staff members retire, there is no replacement, which increases the workload on employees manifold.

This has forced the authorities concerned to withdraw emergency services and round-the-clock complaint service.

There are 8,000 consumers in Kangra town where the number of field employees was 25, which has now reduced to 10, including five regular employees, two outsourced and two junior T-Mates. There are 7,000 consumers on the outskirts of this town. This area includes Birta, Rehalpura, Sebkara, New Bus stand, Vivekananda Vihar, Birta and Matour. In this segment, there are big hotels, major private hospitals and industrial units. During the last five years, the number of consumers has increased from 4,500 to 7,000 but surprisingly the number of field staff has reduced from 18 to six, with three of them unskilled.

The number of Junior Engineers too has come down and in some segments, some Junior Engineers bear the burden of two sections. One Junior Engineer is looking after Kotkowala with the additional charge of Tiara. In Icchhi, the field staff has reduced to two from seven and in Tiara, it has come down to three from seven. Some officials on the condition of anonymity said the staff is so much over-burdened that it was difficult to run the show anymore. They said a few unskilled workers appointed were not authorised to work independently as it was risky.

JP Kalta, Managing Director, HPSEB, told The Tribune that the board would fill up 2,000 vacant posts of different categories of linemen and other field staff shortly to overcome the crisis.

He said as the rate of retirement was higher so the officers were allowed to appoint people 60 to 70 per cent of the vacancies under an outsourcing programme to meet the immediate requirements. He said there was a centralised complaint number (1912) to redress grievances of consumers.