Sachin Tickoo
Of late the Power Development Department has been in headlines either on account of the directives from the office of the Lieutenant Governor emphasizing the reduction in AT&C losses to arrest the quantum of revenue deficit and on other side the ever increasing trust deficit between employees and the management expressed on numerous occasions by the leaders of Power Employees & Engineers Coordination committee.
What really drives a revenue centric organization? Is really Government sincere to work on the bottlenecks projected in this course by the stakeholders? The answer is right there in the media itself while we scroll across the pages of newspapers to find out that from so many years same basic issues are being highlighted by the employee’s coordination committee which remain unresolved. Does this infuse zeal among the cadres- who feel deprived, marginalized and pushed to wall from years of step motherly treatment.
The current sitting Managing Directors/ Chief Engineers/ Superintending Engineers are all Assistant Engineers and most of the sitting Executive Engineers are Junior Engineers in substantive capacity and are only officiating the higher assignments in-charge capacity with no emoluments of the higher positions. The regularization in PDD is pending since 2001. In order to address this issue then State Administrative Council in its meeting held on 22.10.2019 had directed the proposal for regular promotions of Power development department be processed on fast track basis with entire exercise to be completed in two months. Accordingly proposal of 200 retired Engineers had been sent to the establishment committee in the first instance, returned back by Chief Secretary headed committee at highest level, demotivating the entire lot of engineers on account of non-availability of fresh vigilance clearance .A question to ponder is that not even a single in charge placement to higher post is made without the due procedure of Vigilance clearance and APRs. A person ailing and of more than 70 years of age is being expected to present himself again for vigilance clearance/APRs. Does the office of the Lt. Governor seek explanation from the establishment committee and the empowered committee as to why the SAC decision that had to be completely implemented in two months is still pending even after two years?
The red tapism of bureaucracy is so vivid that while we find Super time scales and all perks being granted to the JKJAS/IAS service cadre officers immediately when due with no consideration of any financial implications. At the same time is engineering services playing any lesser role in the developmental goals of the Government? While both have been appointed after examination by the same Public service commission.
These Assistant Engineers who joined in department in 1987 are still awaiting for their first regular promotion. Secondly there is no Assured career progression for Gazetted Engineers serving in different departments in J&K even though same cabinet had approved the ACP in favour of Gazetted Engineers as also for the Gazetted Police and JKAS services in 2018. The formal order in this regard is still awaited in favour of Engineers even though the JKAS/JKPS are enjoying the said provision on the same Cabinet decision. Is this fair enough? Will His Excellency seeks answers from the bureaucracy?
The Fixed Travel allowance in favour of Junior Engineers is Rs 30 per month which was fixed some 40 years back. Since last ten years the demand for enhancement of the same has been figuring in the newspapers. What stops Government from this reassurance measure?
The pain and trauma through which the entire lot of brilliant engineers who have even received Gold Medals for their excellent services to the State are going through being deprived of regularization benefits and some of them died in harness awaiting for the day of recognition /regularization. It is equally demotivating for the serving lot of engineers
Moreover the daily wagers of 1998 are still awaiting regularization, even though they have fulfilled all the criteria of DPCs as per the SRO-381 OF 1981 applicable to Power Development department. Since majority of the lineman in the department are daily wagers who risk their lives and get 6750 per month for services that they render 24×7, 365 days without fail. Despite the availability of the vacancies at all levels the regularization orders are not being issued. Will that daily wager remain motivated to perform his duties 24×7 at meager amount of 6750 per month when we expect him to be a watchdog of the illegal hooking and prevent the thefts of electricity?
The Tech-III staff appointed in 1998 has got not even a single promotion even after 22 years of service and most of them are meter readers. When will Government take steps to give them justice?
On the infrastructure reforms front, the Government appointed consultant in 2019 to unbundle the department into corporations and operationalized the corporations in Oct 2019. The said consultant had given a roadmap for the distribution network infrastructure improvement with major thrust on the LT cabling and metering the consumers. Without sufficient investment in the infrastructure the LT network remains vulnerable to thefts and vagaries of nature. The reduction in AT&C losses goes hand in hand with the quantum of investment in metering and cabling. The victimization of the Feeder Managers on this account will not bring in desired results, unless a professional approach is adopted towards enforcement and infrastructure improvement.
The Department has stopped all recruitment activity since 2016 and there is a vacancy of nearly 400 Junior Engineers against the sanctioned strength of 1200 that was fixed way back in 1981.Each Junior Engineer/ Feeder Manager is currently looking after more than 5 feeders and that too 24×7, 365 days without break and there are no 8 hour shifts as there is no replacement available due to shortage .There has been no recruitment of the Technical cadres since 1998.There are 7 positions of Chief engineers, 16 of SEs, 30 Xens ,40 AEEs, 100AEs also vacant. Will this be fast tracked?
The Government if it is sincere about running the power development department as a business unit must not neglect the Human Resources who hold the key to the turnaround of the Power Sector in Jammu and Kashmir and involve and listen to them.
(The author is General Secretary JKEEGA J&K, Convenor JKPEECC Jammu)
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