PSEB chief gets extension
Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 29
The Punjab Government has given an extension in service to Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Chairman H. S. Brar whose one-year tenure was about to expire.

According to sources, a copy of the extension order was received by the PSEB today.

Brar’s sons, Deepinder Singh and Amaninder Singh, were in the news recently when they were arrested for allegedly thrashing police officials who dared to question them for parking their vehicle wrongly. They were also accused of snatching video cameras of a few photojournalists.

A few months ago an attempt was made to recruit one of the Chairman’s sons as subdivisional officer (SDO) in the board with an agenda item being included at a meeting of the board for giving a job to Brar’s son on compassionate grounds. The plea given was that the family’s land had been acquired more than 20 years ago and that a member of the family deserved a job on compassionate grounds. The item could not be passed due to objections from other members of the board who claimed that the issue should be decided by the state Cabinet as it was the Cooperation Department which was responsible for the land acquisition and not the PSEB.

Recently, the Chairman had through a circular infringed on the powers of both the board secretary as well as the Member, Finance. In a recent order, the Chairman has directed that since both officers were holding additional charges, in the case of important time-bound files, the same should be put forward to him for decision through the Director, Personnel. The Secretary is the chief executive officer of the board who serves as a link between the board and the government and is also responsible for the implementation of government policies.

Brar has seen a swift rise to the top, which is credited to the “political patronage” enjoyed by him. He had retired as Chief Engineer in February 2008 following which he remained on contract as officer on special duty (OSD) for some months. He was appointed Member, Distribution, in May 2008 and then made Chairman of the board in January this year.

However, like the earlier order the government, which is yet to make up its mind on the unbundling of the PSEB, has stipulated that Brar’s term as Chairman would be one year or till further orders, whichever is earlier.