Outsourcing of 33 kv substations in Himachal opposed

Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 12

Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited’s (HPSEBL) decision to outsource the operation and maintenance of 33 kv substations has not gone down well with the board employee union.

Lodging a strong protest with the HPSEBL management, the employee union has demanded a rethink on the issue and threatened an agitation, if the decision is not rolled back.

The union said the board had outsourced these substations in the past, too but the experience was not good. “It won’t be in the interest of the board this time as well. The board was to take back these substations in a dilapidated condition due to the poor maintenance of the machinery by private contractors,” said HPSEBL Employee Union secretary HL Verma.

“The contractor employs unskilled labour, which is not capable of maintaining these substations. In the long run, it’s a harmful for the board,” said Verma.

Verma said the rate of accidents at the substations run and maintained on the outsource basis was also higher.

The board’s Technical Employee Union, too, has opposed the decision. Urging the board MD to withdraw it, the union said it would launch an agitation if their demand was not met. The union demanded that the strength of technical employees should be increased because the existing staff at these substations putting in extra work.