Ludhiana: PSPCL urges admn to exempt tech staff from non-dept duties

PSPCL cited instructions issued by the Election Commission of India in 2014 and 2024, which state that utility technical staff should only be assigned election duties when necessary

The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has directed its offices to seek exemption for engineers and technical staff from election duties, citing staff shortages and rising power demand that require them to focus on maintaining electricity supply across Punjab.

These cases will be taken up with Punjab chief electoral officer Anindita Mitra. (HT)

In a communication to executive engineers and chief engineers, the corporation said its technical workforce supplies power to around 1.12 crore consumers and handles new connections, complaints, metering, billing and maintenance of the electricity network. It said diverting staff to other assignments could affect these essential services.

Apart from election work, PSPCL has also raised concerns over technical staff being assigned duties related to stubble-burning prevention and other administrative tasks.

The corporation has asked its offices to prepare two lists whenever the district election office seeks personnel.

One should identify officials eligible for exemption under Election Commission of India (ECI) instructions, while the other should contain details of the remaining staff.

It has also directed its offices to compile a consolidated list of cases in which staff eligible for exemption are still assigned election duties.

PSPCL cited ECI instructions issued in 2014 and 2024, which state that technical staff of electricity utilities should be assigned election duties only when necessary.

The corporation also referred to a September 9, 2026, letter from the Punjab government’s Department of Power to all deputy commissioners, seeking exemption for technical staff of PSPCL and the Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) from other duties during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The letter called for technical staff already deployed as assistant electoral registration officers, supervisors and booth-level officers (BLOs) to be relieved of those responsibilities. It also asked authorities not to assign them further duties during the exercise.

PSPCL said diverting technical personnel could delay new electricity connections and hamper infrastructure development needed to meet Punjab’s growing power demand.

The directions have been issued with the approval of PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director Gurkirat Kirpal Singh.