Staff shortage, infra gaps flagged at PSPCL consumer grievances meeting in Jalandhar

Facing public criticism over recurring power outages, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) held an open consumer grievance redressal meeting in Jalandhar on Friday, where farmers and industrial representatives flagged the shortage of field staff, delayed infrastructure upgrades and prolonged power restoration as major issues affecting their daily operations.

The meeting, chaired by PSPCL Director (Finance) Surinder Kumar Bedi, was aimed at ensuring prompt redressal of consumer complaints, improving the quality of power supply, assessing ground-level issues and strengthening direct engagement between the PSPCL and consumers. Senior PSPCL officials has also held similar meetings in Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Amritsar.

During the interaction, participants said the shortage of field staff is hampering routine maintenance and increasing the time taken to restore electricity after faults. They also highlighted the pending replacement and upgrade of the ageing low tension (LT) and high tension (HT) network, raising safety concerns.

Farmers and industrial representatives also put forward a series of suggestions to improve power services. They sought a reduction in peak load restrictions from four hours to three hours, purchase of land for new substations instead of relying on panchayat land to avoid delays and issuance of annual interest statements to consumers.

They further urged the PSPCL to recruit regular employees instead of contractual and outsourced staff, saying a permanent workforce would ensure better accountability and improve service delivery.

The meeting was attended by Gursharan Singh, president of the Federation of Jalandhar Industrial and Traders Association; Sanjeev Dhingra, president of the Jalandhar Traders and Manufacturers Association; Sanjeev Juneja, president of the Jalandhar Autoparts Manufacturers Association; Tushar Jain, general secretary of the Jalandhar Autoparts Manufacturers Association; members of the Punjab State Traders Commission; and representatives of the Jalandhar Potato Growers Association.