One of the biggest bodies of power engineers in Punjab — the PSEB Engineers Association — has urged the Punjab Chief Minister against the “unauthorised interaction” for the Director (Generation) applicants conducted by the Punjab Power Minister and Chief Managing Director of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited on May 8, claiming that “this violates valid selection norms”.
In a letter to the Punjab CM, Ajaypal Singh Atwal, General Secretary, has requested that the amendments made in the qualifications and eligibility criteria for the posts of CMDs/Directors, issued in violation of the Tripartite Agreement, should also “be withdrawn forthwith”.
It is pertinent to mention that more than 24 chief engineers and engineer-in-chiefs had applied for the post of the Director and seven applicants were selected for the interaction/interview by the power minister. “As per norms, only the duly constituted Selection Committee comprising the Chief Secretary, Secretary Power, and a power sector expert from the central government is authorised to recommend names for appointment to the post of Director Generation,” claims the association in the letter.
Atwal further claimed that the “interaction/interview by the power minister” is an attempt to exert “undue influence upon the authorised selection committee” and such unauthorised processes be stopped immediately.
“It may be mentioned that PSPCL roughly makes power purchase of Rs 20,000 crores per annum and the engineers interacted with had no ground practical experience in thermal generation and power purchase,” concludes the letter.
