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Channi govt starts process to appoint new PSPCL chief
Sources said the Channi is keen on implementing some populist measures ahead of the 2022 polls and so wants a PSPCL chief of his choice.
The state government has started the process to appoint a new chairperson-cum-managing director of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).
The department of power, held by the newly appointed chief minister (CM) Charanit Singh Channi who took charge nine days ago, has invited applications for the post. Those with experience of working in power boards and corporations for 25 years, with a two-year stint as chief engineer, are eligible for the position.
The CM, as sources revealed, is keen for a change and wants the power department to process his decisions without delay. On Wednesday, he announced to waive off the entire defaulting arrears of domestic electricity bills upto 2 KW load. This will add ₹1,000 to 1,200 crore additional burden on the state exchequer.
The government’s hurry to appoint a new chairperson is apparent from the fact that it has preponed the last date for receiving applications by four days. While earlier the deadline was October 18, candidates now have time till October 14 to apply.
Confirming the development, a senior official in the department said on the condition of anonymity said that it’s the prerogative of the CM to take a call on the matter.
Sources revealed that Channi wants to select a person of his choice as he is keen on implementing some populist measures ahead of the 2022 state polls.
The post is currently held by a senior bureaucrat, A Venu Prasad, who was made the head of the corporation last June, for a second stint.
Earlier, he was appointed on the post immediately after Capt Amarinder Singh took over as CM in March 2017 and continued for over a year, until June 2018. In the intervening two years, Baldev Singh Sra, a technocrat from within the PSPCL, served on the post.
It is expected that the new dispensation under Channi may take a call on cancelling power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed by the previous Akali-BJP government with privately run thermal plants. Cancellation of PPAs was part of the pre-poll promises made by Congress party ahead of the 2017 state polls but it never saw the light of the day. The failure to keep this promise was one of the reasons why a section of the cabinet held a grouse against the previous CM Capt Amarinder Singh. Navjot Singh Sidhu, who resigned from the post of Punjab Congress chief on Tuesday, had also been raising the matter repeatedly.
