Sudhir Sharma
A recent letter issued by Director Finance, wherein he has ordered to stop the annual increments of officers like S.E, Xens & AEEs for failing to achieve the revenue targets and containment of AT&C losses smacks of nothing less than and is infant a classic case of “ignorance personified”. This can be better understood by the following few points besides analyzing the rationale of the letter cum dictat.
Staff Position :-
The power distribution network which had a household coverage of around 45% in early 90s has increased to 75-80% in the state with centrally sponsored schemes like APDRP, RGGVY etc. and a number of Receiving Stations, Grid Stations too have come up over the last 20 Years. The 30% increase in the Power distribution Network with nil recruitment to look after this network coupled with superannuation of the field staff engaged way back in 80’s has put an enormous burden on the workability of the existing staff. The situation in the rural areas is the worst where one lineman is looking after 30-50 Sub-stations and allied distribution network spread across treacherous terrain with line length running in hundreds of kilometers.
Existing financial health of the workers: – The Power distribution network which in most of the districts is presently being looked after by the Need based workers who are mostly found in starvation as the department fails to pay them their due wages regularly and in most of the cases the unpaid wages have a back log of 2 years. The situation in case of the other field machinery like J.Es, A.Es and A.E.Es of M&RE wing is also not good as on many occasions the need based workers are to be monetarily supported as they too have to keep the commitments of their family members. Almost each one of them is overloaded and their backs are against the wall when it comes to make the system going with such a deplorable conditions.
Tenure of the Sub-divisional officers:- The Sub-divisional officers of most of the Sub-divisions in M&RE wing are working in stress 24X7 given the a foretasted working ambience. These officers are being held accountable for revenue losses, AT&C losses in addition to ensuring smooth power supply notwithstanding the already distress environ in which to achieve 100% revenue target and containment of AT&C losses, here comes the dictum of stoppage of annual increment to worsen the stress level further. If the Govt. is so serious Vis-à-vis targets then why haven’t they framed a transfer policy to give equal opportunities to all to serve in all wings of the department. Why is it that the A.E.Es posted in M&RE wing in particular who are always at the receiving end are running from pillar to post for their transfer as their patience seems to have been wearing thin given the pressure level one can handle continuously.
Transmission and Distribution Network:- The T&D network which has seen enormous growth over the last 20 years too has been thrusted on the overloaded system and the depleted staff thereby rendering both men and machinery exposed to even more stress. The field staff has to take care of the Power supply under extreme weather conditions and the replaceability of the damaged poles and conductors and other switchgear is hardly done on demand. The “Jugar” technology is brought in under the compelling conditions to restore power supply. The uncontrolled and ill planning of those at the helm of affairs has resulted in tremendous flow of reactive power which has limited the utilization of the already overloaded system productively.
Lack of Government initiatives:- Ever since the J&K Electricity Act-2010 came into force, the cases of power theft and other reported have been only handful. The cases of power theft reported by the sub-divisional officers have not been taken seriously by the Police and in most cases the police has feigned ignorance. How can a power engineer be held accountable for such brazen ignorance by the police, Isn’t Government aware of this ground reality . The power engineer asks a question why there hasn’t been ant sensitization of the law enforcing agencies about the act? Forget about the sensitization the Government hasn’t so far notified the Electrical inspectors which is mandatory under the act for the implementation of the penal provisions.
The Govt has been pressing hard for taking over the NHPC projects, will the Government say how many state engineers have been imparted training to take care of these mega projects if at all handed over. We have a right to know the answer as to why no shunt capacitors have been installed at key locations to arrest the problem of alarming voltage dips. This is a common feature in Jammu during summers. The MVAR burden on power transformers and lines if reduced will relieve the lines of poor voltage regulation and also limit the T&D losses to a greater extent.
I mean to bring to the fore the level of ignorance amongst policy planners, prevalent in our administrative set up who seem to have turned deaf ear towards these stark realities elaborated above. Have they ever bothered to ponder over these ground realities in the past seriously; Alas None! How can an engineer be held responsible for something which is a creation out of the weak planning coupled with meager resources. Can you justify the stoppage of increment for him having a staff which is hardly being paid, hats off to him for keeping the over burdened staff motivated to spear his ship in the trouble waters. The high handedness of these policy planners leaves more questions than answers for the miseries created by these “Babus”. The power engineer today asks a question is it the duty of him to arrange wages for the field staff. Is it his duty to recruit persons who can run the show? Why should he continue to perform under pressure continuously for year together without any transfer. Last but not the least the higher T&D losses/AT&C losses is a collective responsibility. On one hand it is the duty of the Government to provide logistical support to its engineers and on the other hand it is the engineers prime duty to respect and exploit the support in the interest of the state. But so far it seems to be a canon firing from both ends on the hapless engineers. Mere dashing off a letter without a thoughtful purpose will only create more chaos in the work force and will lead to a morass like situation for all of us.
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