HC order on reporting vacancies to PSC puts KSEB in a fix

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Jobs are a scarce commodity these days. But a recent Kerala High Court order which brought cheer to PSC rank-holders has put the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) – the potential employer in question – in a fix.

Last week, the court ordered the KSEB to report 799 vacancies of meter readers to PSC before January 17. While KSEB, with over 31,000 employees on rolls at present, is indeed one of the biggest job providers in the state, the court order has left it in a predicament.

For it is already at loggerheads with the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission over excess staff and rising employee expenses. Moreover, the shift to smart meters – a diktat of the Centrally-sponsored financial turnaround schemes like UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) – will render jobs like manual meter reading obsolete in near future, say KSEB officers.

Senior officers, who lament the additional financial burden will transform the KSEB into another ailing state undertaking like the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, said the utility is planning to appeal against the court order. Nonetheless, it was the Pinarayi Vijayan Government which instructed all departments and PSUs to report vacancies without delay to PSC. The PSC rank holders’ organisations, on their part, have been blaming KSEB for not toeing the government line.

In recent years, KSEB has been shifting gears to restructuring/redeployment as many of its services – bill payment included – have gone online. A recent study by IIM-Kozhikode had recommended the utility to halve its corporate staff strength from 309 to 146.

Moreover, KSEB’s finances are also far from robust, KSEB director (finance) N S Pillai told Express.  “KSEB is practically running on overdraft. Its loss in the 2016-17 fiscal was around `1,680 crore. Tariff hikes will be the only way to meet any additional financial burden,” he said. But workers’ unions call for a balanced approach. “Computerisation is essential to meet new challenges and new customer demands. But you cannot just shut off employment opportunities. KSEB should try to maintain a balance between the two,” said A N Rajan, president, KSEB Electricity Workers’ Federation (AITUC).