Contractual Staff
PSEB’s hiring process non-transparent: HC
Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 27
It may send shock waves, but the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) is annually spending Rs 3 crore on meter readers and bill distributors engaged on contract basis. To make the matters worse, the hiring process is not transparent.

But all this may soon be transmitted to the past, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court decrying the practice of hiring manpower on contract basis.

Taking up a public interest litigation by Paramjeet Singh, Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia have asserted: “The board has introduced a system of engaging such manpower on contract basis and incurring crores of rupees expenditure annually on the same.

What is disturbing, however, is that board has not at any stage prescribed any transparent procedure or norms for making such appointments. All that has been referred to us is an order dated July 10 in which instructions for a transparent procedure to be adopted for engaging meter readers and bill distributors have been issued.”

“We are, however, totally dissatisfied with the steps taken by the board in the matter of regulating engagement of manpower on contractual basis and the process by which such engagement is made. In the ordinary course, we would have issued appropriate direction to the board not to continue with the procedure of appointing meter readers and bill distributors.

“But having regard to the fact that the state government has themselves directed a review of the manpower requirement, we see no reason why the government should not undertake such a review and stipulate proper procedures and norms that are transparent and objective in nature to ensure that the process for appointment of meter readers and bill distributors is not vitiated by extraneous and corrupt motives that are more often that not bred in such situations on account of the arbitrary powers enjoyed by those who are authorised to make such selections.”

The bench also directed: “The state government shall review the issue regarding the ban on engagement of manpower required by the PSEB. In case it comes to the conclusion that the ban deserves to be continued, and contractual appointments allowed to be made, it shall prescribe proper procedures and norms for engagement of those ready and willing to work on contractual basis as meter readers and bill distributors.”

“We further direct that the entire process of review and streamlining the procedure and prescription of norms for engagement of contractual employees shall be initiated and concluded expeditiously but not later than three months, ” the bench added.