Misappropriation of funds: Punjab govt sacks PSPCL Director Harjit Singh

The Punjab government today terminated the services of Director Power Generation of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), Harjit Singh, on suspicion of misappropriation of funds that led to higher cost of fuel in the state government-run thermal power plants.

The termination of his service comes close on the heels of the suspension of Chief Engineer of Ropar and Goindwal Sahib, Harish Sharma, on November 2. Sharma was suspended on charges of allowing a hike in fuel cost.

The orders, terminating the services of Harjit Singh, have been issued by the new Administrative Secretary, Power Department, Basant Garg. Garg was appointed as the head of Power department as well as the Chairman and Managing Director of PSPCL and PSTCL (Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited) last week, when his predecessor, A K Sinha, was suddenly shifted out and has not been given any posting.

Official sources  in the PSPCL claim that there were differences between Harjit Singh and the government over the proposed liquidation of properties of the PSPCL by the state government, and also regarding signing of new Power Purchase Agreements. Harjit Singh was appointed as Director Generation in October last year.

The orders issued today state that the cost of fuel used in the Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant, Ropar, and Guru Amardas Thermal Power Plant, Goindwal Sahib, was expensive by Rs 0.75 to Rs 1.25 per unit, as compared to the fuel cost of private thermal plants in the state. The orders mention that the increase is inspite of the fact that these state owned thermal plants were getting coal from the state’s own coal mine at Pachchwara. “This is leading to loss of crores of rupees to the PSPCL. This proves that there was misappropriation in the fuel cost,” reads the order.

Interestingly, no notice was reportedly issued to the officer before his services were terminated. Calling his actions, as “grave misconduct”, the orders state that as per rules, the services can be terminated any time, without giving a notice in case of misconduct”.

The development, however, has irked the PSEB Engineers Association. Representatives of the association had reportedly met the Power Minister Sanjeev Arora yesterday, asking him to rethink on suspension of Sharma. “The difference in fuel cost is on account of the state run plants being old and conventional, while the private plants are new. The Plant Load Factor of the government generation plants is also much less than the newer private plants. This leads to higher fuel cost in the state run plants,” said a senior official in PSPCL.

Jasvir Singh Dhiman, President of the PSEB Engineers Association, said that there was no doubt about the integrity of Harjit Singh, Director Generation. “The reason given for his termination from service is technically not justified. If such a thing can happen to an honest officer, the other engineers are also demoralised,” he added.