Recruitment frozen in KSEB too

Thrissur: On grounds of financial crisis, recruitments into Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) have been frozen. The board has asked the state's Public Service Commission, to postpone new appointment orders. The board has also started to cut down the number of employees as part of curbing the expenditure.

Vacancies of 247 assistant engineers have not been filled for months. These vacancies are planned to be filled by promotion. There are more than thousand vacancies in the posts of meter reader and mazdoor. At present there are 33,041 employees in KSEB. However, the Regulatory Commission has approved and allowed the salary of only 27,175 people.

Of 4,808 employees, salary of 4,767 people of technical and of 41 of non technical -establishment categories are not granted by the Regulatory Commission.

The board is facing severe financial crisis. 1494.63 crore rupees was the loss of KSEBduring financial year 2016-17. The auditing of the last financial year is yet to finish. It is assumed that the loss of last financial year will be similar to that of the previous year.

Based on a study conducted by Indian Institute of Management on the deployment and rearrangement of employees in the board, it was recommended to cut short the size of staff in large numbers.

Electricity Minister of the state, MM Mani, in a reply given to Eldose Kunnapilly, said that though the board has asked to temporarily withhold the appointments via PSC until the reorganisation and rearrangement of employees are completed, appointments to vacancies in assistant engineer and sub engineer are being made.

It has been found that the board incurs loss due to salary and pension. Though the collection of overdue amount was improved, the loss could not be made good. Hence, the board is also suggesting a hike in tariff.