Former colleagues of newly appointed PSPCL CMD raised finger on his appointment
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
Punjab government had re-appointed a seasoned, experienced ,well versed with power sector, technocrat and former CMD Er Baldev Singh Sra as CMD of Punjab state power corporation limited (PSPCL) on December 21,2021 .
Sra takes the charge of CMD, PSPCL in the presence of Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa , cabinet minister Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa along with other dignitaries, officials, family members on December 23,2021
His re-appointment has received mix response from the power sector. Some factions, unions has welcomed his appointment with open arms where as some of his former colleagues, subordinates has raised question over his appointment as CMD. They even wrote a letter to the chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, over this issue.
Bhupinder Singh, convener of Power Sector Reforms Forum said” there was an excellent pool of talented engineers to choose from for the appointment of CMD of PSPCL, but the government succumbed to hectic political lobbying for the final selection. The dismal performance of the selected candidate during his previous innings as CMD from June 2018 to June 2020 has been overlooked for reasons best known to the government. Installing an inefficient administrator at the helm of affairs of PSPCL in 2018 proved disastrous for the power secor of Punjab.”
Bhupinder Singh added “ the manner in which Er Baldev Singh Sra joined his post in 2018 and again in 2021, flanked by politicians, speaks volumes about politicization of the post of CMD of PSPCL. ”
He warned the state government that “ Punjab is expected to face peak demand in excess of 16000MW next summer and proper planning by a team headed by an able administrator and competent professional can only save the people of Punjab from a yet another horrible summer. The after effects of mismanagement of the power sector during Sra’s earlier tenure have been primary reasons for the horrible times that the people of Punjab had to face this summer. ”
Former colleagues of newly appointed PSPCL CMD raised finger on his appointment . “Power sector reforms forum cautions the political parties that power sector of Punjab needs to be depoliticized and only a competent professional at the top can effectively steer the sector out of its trouble. Ignoring fresh talent also demoralises the cadre “ added Singh
Whereas Vinod Gupta of AIPEF had said on his re-appointment as CMD that “the all-around improvement was visible in the Punjab power sector during his last tenure. Baldev Singh is an honest and competent engineer and is well conversant with the nitty-gritty of power purchase agreements and will be able to take these to a conclusion with active political support.”
“During his earlier tenure of two years , all-around improvement was visible in the Punjab power sector With the out of box thinking of Baldev Singh, PSPCL has managed the power requirements of Punjab in a commendable manner without going in for usual short term power purchases. There was a policy of zero tolerance to power theft and corruption. Organized gangs of meter tampering for power theft were exposed and busted. For the first time power was sold during summer by PSPCL gaining over Rs. 1183 crore with a profit margin of Rs.453 crore during his first tenure” Gupta added
January 1,2022
