PANAJI
Will the electricity department’s latest plans to fill as many as 243 posts lead to these additional manpower costs being eventually passed on to consumers in the form of higher power bills?
The decision to fill these vacancies comes at a time when the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Goa and Union Territories has already stated that the electricity department is overstaffed and needs to reduce its manpower.
In a notice on August 17, the chief electrical engineer announced applications to fill up the 243 vacancies, consisting of junior engineer-electrical (56), station operator (28), lower division clerk (11), lineman wireman (69) and meter reader (79).
“Few people may have realised that manpower costs of the electricity department are eventually passed on to consumers. It is one of the elements of Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR),” explained a source, while speaking to The Goan.
“So, eventually, the salary burden of these new recruits will be passed on to the powers consumers of Goa.”
The source explained that retail tariffs are fixed so as to recover the entire ARR of the distribution company or department.
“In Goa, the electricity department is the distribution licensee. In other states/metros, power distribution is licensed to private companies, commonly known as ‘Discoms’. So, there is no element of subsidisation by the State or Central Governments.”
The source said the electricity department is overstaffed and its employee-consumer ratio is one of the highest in the country.
“The JERC has flagged this issue several times in the past and had asked the electricity department to reduce its manpower, which had been ignored till date,” said the source.
“Political parties may be aware of this but would prefer to look the other way, particularly in an election year. The power-consuming public ought to be made aware that eventually at the end of the day it will be they who would be paying for these new recruitments through their power bills,” the source added.
The source said the issue had been raised in the assembly over two years ago and the government has also admitted to the ARR implications and concerns raised by the JERC.
Power Minister Nilesh Cabral, while replying to an LAQ tabled by Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco on July 25, 2019, admitted that the JERC had “directed the electricity department to analyse its manpower strength to reduce the cost.”
To another query on whether manpower costs incurred by electricity department are ultimately passed on to power consumers of the state, Cabral also admitted that “manpower cost is an element of ARR, i.e. total cost of power distribution company/ department.”
“Retail tariffs are determined in a manner to recover the entire ARR of distribution company/ department,” replied the minister.
According to information available, the employee expenses of the department, comprising salaries, wages, pension contribution and other employee costs, have shot up from about Rs 194.48 cr (2014-15) to about Rs 332.93 cr (2020-21).
Incidentally, the JERC had directed the electricity department over two years ago to analyse employee strength and to rationalise requirements to reduce manpower and related cost.
Despite these JERC directives, sources in the electricity department said the department is yet to submit a report on this matter.
