HimVani
Shimla: Coming clear on the fate of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Friday said the Board would not be privatised. He said rather the government would take steps to strengthen and make it more result oriented.
Replying to the debate on PSEB, Dhumal said that to strengthen the newly-formed Power Corporation, supporting staff of 1,000 engineers and other staff would be taken from PSEB. “The power corporation would only recruit direct staff when there is no availability of such employees in the Board,” said Dhumal.
Earlier, participating in the debate, former Power Minister Vidya Stokes raised the need for reduction of transmission losses and vacancies of the technical and filed staff. Stokes asked the government to dispel the suspense built over the issue of privatization of the electricity board, as the April 30 deadline of Government of India is drawing close.
Stokes said that the power subsidy given to the BPL and APL domestic consumers should not be withdrawn. The government spends Rs. 132 crore on it annually.
Chief Minister said that the power subsidy to domestic consumers would continue, 236 regular Junior Engineers would be recruited soon, 365 High Voltage Transmitters would be installed for better voltage.
Former Minister Roop Singh Thakur emphasized upon the need for transparency in bidding of power projects. Kaul Singh Thakur said that the government should clearly state its stand on Trifurcation of the electricity board.