Voice of Electricity Workers April-June 2002 Index
KERALA STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD IMPLEMENTS ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK'S CONDITIONS
A HINDU REPORT IS REPRODUCED BELOW:
By Radhakrishnan Kuttoor
PATHANAMTHITTA May 13. The Kerala State Electricity Board has mooted
restructuring of the pay and service conditions of its employees reportedly as
part of the cost-cutting measures to tide over the ongoing financial crisis.
The KSEB White Paper, submitted to the Government the other day, recommended a
33-point cost-cutting exercise and a 17-point formula to improve its revenue
collection, it is reliably learnt.
According to sources, the White Paper
recommended that the KSEB should comply with all the ``economy orders'' of the
Kerala Government like that of January 16 which imposed certain restrictions on
leave surrender and pension commutation benefits of the Government staff.
Moreover, it moots refixing of the ratio of the supervisory staff and the
employees in the KSEB as per the existing Government norms. The KSEB is to
submit a report on the comparative service benefits enjoyed by the Board staff
and the government employees in the next three months.
Promotions in the
KSEB will be made solely on the basis of merit and evaluation through potential
and performance appraisals. A department promotion council will be constituted
soon.
The White Paper made strong remarks on the ``low work norms,
irrational staff deployment and lack of accountability'' in the KSEB. It
suggested comparative pay scales for the staff with that of the State
Government.
It also complains of low productivity of the KSEB employees
besides recommending a total ban on new appointments.
Subsidies to go
The White Paper mooted phasing out the supply of subsidised power to the
agriculture sector, small-scale industries, domestic consumers in general,
socially and economically backward sections etc, once the State Electricity
Regulatory Commission (SERC) is in place.
As per the White Paper, the
existing power tariff is quite inadequate with an average power supply cost of
Rs 3.58 and power tariff of Rs 2.34 per unit. The realisation of power tariff
per unit is Rs 2.05, leaving a revenue shortage of 53 per cent.
Rs
4,635-cr Govt arrears
Though the State Government arrears to the KSEB on
various heads are estimated at Rs 4,635 crores, the White Paper appears to be
very much sceptical of realising the amount.
According to the White Paper,
the duty payable by the KSEB to the Government is Rs 479.33 crores and Rs 4.7
crores towards police security.
The Paper also states that the Board's
revenue gap between the average monthly revenue receipts of Rs 220 crores and
the average monthly expenditure of Rs 320 crores will be closed within 18
months. Moreover, there will not be any Government guarantee for the KSEB on
loans, power purchase etc. in future.
The Paper recommended reorganisation
of the civil wing of the KSEB by redeploying the excess staff, if not
retrenched. The land acquisition wing of the KSEB will be disbanded and the
Board would prefer outright purchases of land, if needed, in future.
The
White Paper also made a cautious approach towards the 13 thermal independent
power producers (IPP) in the pipeline in view of the high cost of the thermal
power.
However, it also clarified that captive and independent power
producers would be promoted by giving sanction to small, mini and micro hydel
power projects in the State.
It recommended ``outsourcing of services'' by
engaging private agencies.
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