A General Body Meeting of PSEB Engineers' Association was held at Guru Teg Bahadur Hall, Punjabi University, Patiala on 30.09.2008. This meeting was attended by over 1,200 PSEB Engineers coming from all nooks and corners of the state of Punjab. S. Parkash Singh Badal Chief Minister Punjab holding power portfolio was the Chief Guest. The meeting was also attended by S. H.S.Bains Media Advisor to the CM Punjab, Sh.Suresh Kumar Principal Secretary/Power, Sh.Y.S.Ratra Chairman PSEB, leaders of All India Power Engineers' Federation and Northern India Power Engineers' Federation.

While addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister Punjab said that the engineers in general and power engineers in particular are responsible for developing the country and that the development of any society is measured by the electricity units it is consuming. He said that the State is presently facing 30% shortage in power but in coming four years, 'we shall be able to add more than 100% of our existing capacity and bring it to more than 12,000 Mega Watt'. He added that the four thermal plants at Talwandi Sabo, Gidderbaha, Rajpura and Goindwal Sahib shall be commissioned in shortest possible time. He called for making a 50 to 100 years plan for Punjab and India like Japan. Regarding unbundling, the Chief Minister said that 'any decision in this regard shall be taken in consultation with PSEB Engineers' Association'. He also added that 'a small group meeting shall be called by him with PSEB Engineers' Association to lay down short term and long term plan through which the power sector of Punjab can be improved to match the needs of the people". The Chief Minister announced that 225 new Assistant Engineers, 225 new Junior Engineers and 125 SSAs shall be recruited 'purely on merit' in PSEB to reduce the shortage of technical manpower in the organization. He assured the engineers that they shall be supported by Govt., in controlling theft of power and assured that 'the prestige of PSEB Engineers was the prestige of his Govt'. He gave a call for cleaning the public life and tackle corruption with an iron hand.
Er.Shaildendra Dubey Secretary General All India Power Engineers' Federation hailed the decision of keeping Kerala State Electricity Board as one public sector company and suggested to follow same Model in Punjab. "The unbundling of State Electricity shall lead to bankruptcy of the country and thus review of Electricity Act 2003 is in national interest", he concluded.
Er.M.S.Bajwa Patron PSEB Engineers' Association welcoming the Chief Minister asked for making Trade Unions and Associations as Partners in the Management of PSEB and added that HRD and Manpower Planning should be made a focused areas in PSEB. He vouched for additional investment in power sector for development of industry and economy of the State and added that 'Power sector be treated as core sector for Punjab'
Er.Suresh Kumar Principal Secretary said that the Punjab Govt. had an open mind on the issue of unbundling of PSEB and that the future power sector model shall be Punjab centric and in the interest of the consumer. He exhorted that the process of innovations, reforms, cutting costs and delays should continue in PSEB without waiting for restructuring. 'There is no scope of being complacent in our working', he added. He exhorted that all of us should work hard to ensure efficient service deliveries to the citizens of the State. Sh.Suresh Kumar invited PSEB Engineers' Association to send him a 'Policy Paper' on the subject of Internal Reforms for implementation in PSEB.
Sh. Y.S .Ratra Chairman PSEB said that the PSEB Engineers were the biggest stake holders in the power sector of Punjab. He assured that all models of restructuring including Kerala model shall be studied to arrive out at a Punjab centric model. He said that the focus on three issues namely 'Reduction of losses, Consumer Service and improving PSEB Performance' has to be kept by the engineers and employees of the Board.
Er.Padamjit Singh Chairman All India Power Engineers' Federation stressed that generation, transmission and distribution be held together in Punjab for optimum and efficient operation of power system. He warned that major reliance on private sector generation can lead to a bankrupt Punjab as Enron would have turned Maharashtra into a similar situation.
Earlier, Er. H. S. Bedi President PSEB Engineers' Association in his key note Presidential Address said that 'the PSEB Engineers' Association was committed to implement positive changes and reforms in the power sector and extend prompt, courteous, clean and corruption-free service to the power consumers'. While narrating the achievements of PSEB, Er. Bedi said that the challenges before the power sector in Punjab were tough and required to be met with equal grit and determination. Welcoming the initiative taken by the present Govt. to enhance the power availability in Punjab by 12,244 MW through private investment of Rs 61,000 Cr by 2012, Er. Bedi cautioned the authorities that 'Punjab was taking a big risk in getting 100% of 6480 MW planned thermal plants executed through private sector players'. He intimated that the private sector could never achieve more than 51% of its allotted generation capacity during any of the Five Year Plans and due to its poor performance, the Planning Commission has earmarked only 10,760 MW out of total generation capacity addition target of 78,577 MW i.e. 14% to private sector during the present 11th Plan (2007-12). “Most of the states in India are executing 60% to 100% additional generation projects through state funding” Er. Bedi added. He warned that “while the power shortage up to 2012 shall be a permanent feature in Punjab ranging between 39% to 26%, any slippage by a private sector executor shall further deteriorate the situation”. As an alternative, Er. Bedi suggested that 'proposed thermal plants at Gidderbaha (2640 MW) and Rajpura (1320 MW) should be respectively executed in equity participation with NTPC and departmentally ensuring their 100% availability at the right time'. He added that “annual funding of Rs.660 crore required to execute these two projects during next 4 years can be provided by the Punjab Govt. and PSEB who are otherwise sustaining payment of Rs.6,000 crore for power purchase and Rs.500 crore on subsidized power annually”. He pleaded that Punjab should immediately press the Govt. of India for 'allocation of 2x2000 MW nuclear power plant to be executed by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd in equity participation with PSEB ensuring its commissioning within next 6 to 8 years’. Er. Bedi added that 'to ensure that generated power is available to the consumers adequate transmission and distribution network is a must for which investment plan costing Rs 40,000 Cr has to be made immediately'. Giving an immediate solution to power shortage in Punjab, the President said that 1,500 MW demand of Punjab can be met by 'time bound implementation of low cost system improvement-cum-loss reduction plan, drive against theft of power, discouraging the sale of incandescent lamps by taxing them heavily, installation of shunt capacitors and execution of PSEB Energy Conservation Plan from October-2008 to May-2009'.
Discussing the present bad financial health leading to bankruptcy of PSEB reeling under short term loans of Rs.5,800 crore, Er. Bedi said that the solution lies in 'execution of Financial Re-Structuring Plan by Punjab Govt. cleaning the balance sheet of PSEB, conversion of 100% of Punjab Govt. loans into equity and advance payment of subsidy in cash'.
The President stated that "unbundling of the State Electricity Boards has proved to be a big failure and has resulted into higher consumer tariff". He resented that 'while the private sector like Reliance Energy, Tata Power, Torrent Power and CESC have bundled generation, transmission and distribution, the State Electricity Boards are being forced to un-bundle by mis-interpreting the Electricity Act 2003 which actually aims at converting a State Electricity Board in to a company by separating the trading of power under an independent comopany'. He informed the gathering that 'only recently Kerala Govt. has issued a notification to convert Kerala Electricity Board into one public sector company' and exhorted to implement 'a similar structure for PSEB'.
Er. H. S. Bedi further pointed out that while the failed experiments of unbundling and corporatization are being forced upon the power sector of various states in India for the last 16 years at a cost of lacs of crores of rupees, no real power sector internal reforms are being carried out and the matter has virtually ended after unbundling and appointing non technocrats as the heads of these entities. He laid down an Eleven-Point Reform Model for PSEB which is equally implementable in the existing or company structure of the Board and emphasizes 'using modern management techniques to improve employees' productivity, professionalization of Board management, reward scheme for performance - initiative and innovation, implementation of Quality Improvement and Quality Circle plan and PSEB IT plan, forming profit centres and business units down up to the 11 KV feeder, re-organization of distribution set up on functional basis, strengthening of human resources development as a separate core function on the lines of NTPC by converting the post of Member/Administration to Member/HRD and implementing scientific manpower planning, ensuring commercial discipline, strengthening and professionalizing regulatory framework and insulating the power sector from political and bureaucratic inference'.
Er. Bedi resented that in the so called reforms programme being carried out in India, the power engineers have been marginalised and the leadership of the sector is being passed out from technical hands to the bureaucrats and added that 'out of 59 power companies formed after unbundling, 55 companies are being headed by non-technocrats'. He said that the while PSEB Engineers' Association was neither against changes in the power sector nor bureaucrats. 'We demand our rightful place in the hierarchy of power sector on the pattern of developed and developing countries where these slots are exclusively managed by power engineers' Er. Bedi concluded.
Putting the demand of revision in pay scales and allowances in the end, of his address Er. Bedi said that 'the present differential between the pay structure of PSEB Engineers with Punjab and Central Govt. engineers be maintained', and added that 'as a fair play the PSEB Engineers should be given time bound pay scale of Senior Xen after 9 years, SE after 14 years, CE after 18 years and EIC after 27 years on the pattern of Central Services.' He demanded 'fixed pay scale for actually promoted Chief Engineers and Engineers-in-Chief on the pattern of two last top scales for the IAS'. He said that all PSEB technical employees should be given Power Sector Pay in view of their round the clock hazardous duty and the Electricity concession and facility of one tubewell on priority needs to be extended to the retired PSEB employees. He demanded that a 'cadre review of PSEB Engineers needs to be initiated immediately to achieve a cadre structure at par with the Central Engineering Service to end career stagnation in PSEB.'
A Website of PSEB Engineers' Association was also launched on this occasion.