Punjab Powercom Crisis Draws National Attention; AIPEF Urges CM to Intervene Over Arbitrary Decisions

Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ December 24,2025

The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) expresses serious concern over recent developments that are adversely impacting the technical integrity and institutional stability of Punjab’s power sector.

“We fully acknowledge that the present Government of Punjab,elected with a clear and overwhelming mandate, has consistently projected a commitment tofairness, honesty, and transparency in governance” said Shailendra Dubey, Chairman, AIPEF

Shailendra Dubey, Chairman, AIPEF has written a letter to CM Punjab Bhagwant Singh Mann and seeks his intervention on the ‘Arbitrary actions and adhocism in Punjab state Power sector ‘. He said “Already engineers and employees of the power sector are agitating against the arbitraryactions of the Power Minister. On 23/12/25 vide office order no 205/ BEG-1 CMD PSPCL under political pressure and to suppress the ongoing agitation has arbitrarily transferred the key office bearers of PSEB Engineers’ Association including its General Secretary, Secretary Finance and Office Bearers out of Patiala as a malafide move. AIPEF strongly condemns this in vindictive move of PSPCL management.

It is in this spirit of constructive engagement and mutual respect that AIPEF requests you to withdraw these arbitrary orders and also wishes to draw your urgent attention to the following critical issues:

Arbitrary Suspension and Removal of Senior Engineers

Worrisome development in the state sector is the arbitrary suspension of senior level Engineer officers i.e. Er. Harish Sharma, CE/ GGSSTP, and the removal of Er. Harjit Singh, Director/ Generation on arbitrary grounds. These suspensions are totally on baseless and technically incorrect grounds. Such arbitrary actions undermine due process, damage morale, and create an atmosphere of pressure and insecurity among engineers.

Sale of Power Sector Properties

AIPEF strongly opposes the move to sell power sector assets. It is a known fact that establishing a new Power infrastructure in today’s time has become extremely difficult owing to the rising land prices and ROW issues. The Power sector assets are necessary for future expansions/ augmentations to the Generation/ Transmission or Distribution projects.

Furthermore, selling these invaluable assets now and then procuring costlier assets at the time of need will lead to higher tariffs for consumers of Punjab. Sale of assets of the corporations will also affect the borrowing capacity of the corporations and is also a violation of provisions of Electricity Act 2003.

Rising Political Interference & Influence of Non‐Technical Consultants

Increasing unwanted political interference in technical operations, procurement, and Board decisions, along with reliance on consultants lacking power sector experience are eroding institutional professionalism. This trend is incompatible with the State’s own goal of “Zero Power Outage by March 2026.”

Violation of Tripartite Agreement

Being a highly technical organisation, both PSPCL and PSTCL calls for leadership of highly technical and experienced CMD. At the time of unbundling of PSEB into PSPCL and PSTCL and as part of the restructuring framework, detailed qualifications, eligibility criteria and a selection procedure for the appointment of CMDs and directors of the two corporations were laid down, clearly envisaging that both entities would be headed by experienced power sector technocrats. It was decided that the qualification and appointment of Directors and CMDs of these organizations shall be framed in consultation with the stakeholders of the power sector.

The first amendment to the CMD appointment rules was made in March 2017, allowing a principal secretary-level IAS officer to be appointed as CMD. This dilution was protested by the forthcoming Engineers’ body of Punjab i.e. PSEBEA. Now, in the recent development, Punjab Government has appointed an IAS officer of Secretary level to the post of CMD and later on made illegitimate amendments ignoring the inputs of state sector engineers’ body regarding dilution of qualification/ experience criteria of this post. AIPEF urges immediate withdrawal of these amendments and expeditious appointment of a full‐time technocrat CMD through the regular selection process.

Strengthening state Generation sector:

As a historical first, Punjab was the first state to acquire a Private Thermal Plant under state sector and the State government had proactively announced the establishment of 2 × 800 MW Ropar supercritical project for enhancement of the state generation capacity to ensure future energy security. The necessary go ahead in this regard was also obtained from the Central government, which was a welcome step. However, as per the latest stance, the establishment of these units is now being envisaged to be in the private sector instead of the Government sector, this will not only mean costlier generation but also higher tariffs for state consumers.

Proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025:

AIPEF urges the state government to oppose the Electricity (Amendment) Bill as the same dilutes the state governments’ stake in the decision making in the Power sector which otherwise is a concurrent list subject. The proposed bill undermines the state’s autonomy in the sector and also compromises the interests of marginalised population benefitting private players in the name of reduction of burden on government.

AIPEF urges the state government to take heed of the advice rendered by PSEBEA, the state power sector body of engineers who have always kept the interests of state power sector ahead of any other demands. Almost all of the employee/officer unions/associations are agitating against the unprecedented actions of the Govt/Corporation Management. AIPEF appeals for your urgent intervention to restore industrial peace, uphold technical leadership, reverse unjust actions, and safeguard the long‐term stability of Punjab’s power sector.