Islamabad Of every 800 regular electricity users in the country, around 35 are hook or kunda connections. The situation puts a question mark over the working of power distribution companies (DISCOs). Inefficiency on the part of DISCOs has been a major drag on the sector’s financial health, as there are losses and low recoveries.
The Senate Standing Committee on Power that met here with Senator Saifullah Abro in the chair on Wednesday discussed the “Kunda Culture” along with a report on the number of regular and kunda connections in each DISCO in detail. The committee was informed that the number of kunda and regular connections is 1,389,184 and 31,649,536. The committee asked on which basis the report was prepared, replying to which the power division secretary said that the report had been made through the field formation by the same companies and not from any outside source.
The committee chief questioned as to why this electricity theft was not being stopped. The secretary said that electricity theft was a non-cognizable offence and recommendations had been made time and again to make it a cognizable offence but to no avail. The chairman sought a graphical description on the district-wise number of connections and losses in the next meeting.
The meeting discussed the export processing zone, Risalpur, which is one of the fastest growing industrial zones in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The committee observed that no electricity supply from Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) had been given to export processing zone, Risalpur, on account of which no export had taken place for three years.
The Joint Committee Industrial Zone informed the standing committee that from the beginning, it was powered through one electricity feeder and second feeder was added recently by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC). But, he said, owing to fast industrialisation in the zone both the feeders were overloaded now and with constant fluctuation, tripping, load shedding and loss of valuable electric equipment losses were taking place. The committee was informed that over 200 industries were jointly running under the umbrella of EPZ, KPEZDMC and Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC), which are an earning source for over 10,000 direct families in the region and a source of tax revenue to the government.
It was lamented that no cooperation from PESCO was being extended to the EPZ and the matter had been pending for 20 years. Besides, a connection of 132-KV, a 100 per cent completed grid station under PASDEC to the national transmission line was pending since 2012 due to non-payment of the remaining amount of Rs120 million. The PESCO officials informed the committee that 640 factories had shut down in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for lack of electricity. The officials said that a power transformer would be installed by December 2021 in the region.
The power division secretary informed the committee that a connection from the grid station of Pakistan Stone Development Company (PSDC) would supply electricity to EPZ according to the regulations until a dedicated grid was installed in the region. The chairman issued direction to PESCO to solve the matter at its earliest, as it is causing a huge loss of millions of dollars.
He sought a report on appointment of MD of NTDC and new advertisement for the post of MD of GHCL pending long by now. The secretary informed the committee that the report on the appointment of MD of NTDC was awaited by the Board of Directors (BoDs) since the board was newly constituted and the Board of Directors (BoDs) was the competent authority to deliberate upon it. He contended that the board was the final authority for all the legislative and recruitment decisions under the Companies Act, 2017, after the completion of due process.
The chairman observed that matters pertaining to the appointment of the MD and a new advertisement were being deliberately delayed with mala fide intentions. “The power division is delaying the matter over one pretext or the other just to bluff the Senate Committee”, he said. The chairman showed concern that no heed was being paid to the recommendation of the Senate Committee.
“It seems like the Board of Directors (BoDs) has been given all the authority all without any checks and balances.” The committee unanimously observed that the decisions of the Board of Directors (BoDs) were supreme decision and all other authorities were held worthless. The chairman also observed that the secretary showed lack of interest in the discussion taking place in the committee and did not feel like answering any of the questions rather deliberately engaging in arguments when asked to reply.
The chairman sought a tabulated report on the number of meetings of the Board of Directors (BoDs) and expenditure on each meeting. He further directed that a complete financial report be also provided by the power division. The chairman with the consent of the members decided to lay the matter of Board of Directors (BoDs) in the house and hold them accountable for their working which had led power plants efficiency to drop from 4574MW to 2168MW.
The secretary informed the committee that a compensation package had also been rightly not approved by the Board of Directors (BoDs) with a retrospective effect. He said that no compensation package had a retrospective effect. The committee lamented how the department did not have financial resources to compensate those poor families who had lost their loved ones. On a briefing on the promotion policy of engineers from LS-II to the highest rank, the chairman questioned the appointment of PEPCO General Manager (HR) Sagheer Ahmed and asked for the l record of the recruitment process of the said official in the next meeting.
