DAYA SAGAR
The J&K State Administrative Council (SAC) on October 25, 2019 which met under the chairmanship of the then Governor, Satya Pal Malik had accorded sanction to the unbundling of the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Department (JKPDD), J&K State Power Development Corporation limited (JKSPDCL) and J&K State Power Trading Company Limited (JKSPTCL) -to be renamed as J&K State Power Trading Corporation Limited and The creation of Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Limited, Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited and like. So far the power trading in state was handled by PDD and the creation of corporations (PSEs) for handling the job must have been for betterment in terms of management / commercial viability as compared to a pure government department like PDD. But at the same time It was also decided that the staff of different wings of the JKPDD shall be deputed to the respective corporations and ‘service’ interest of serving employees of JKPDD sent / transferred to JKSPDCL and JKSPTCL shall be protected and not varied to their disadvantage in terms of service benefits i.e existing terms and conditions protecting their lien too. Good but any fair thinking mind would have asked are the service conditions for those who would be recruited in the cadres of the new companies going to be inferior to what are there in a a government department ?
In other words another touching inference that could be drawn from the decision of SAC that was reported to have been taken on 25 Oct 2019 could be that the ‘governments’ create Corporations /PSUs/PSEs in place of some government departments for improving the performance on ground and reducing the burden /losses on State Exchequer but expect to receive better returns from the employees working there @ inferior service conditions / securities /wages in terms and conditions of employment. Such ‘missions’ of converting Government Departments to Government Companies / Enterprises / Corporations ( PSE) in view of poor performance of some government departments in certain fields aiming to get better output from the employees, but by extending inferior service benefits/inferior terms & conditions of employment as compared to when/ those “in government” would not succeed in any considering ‘wisdom’. Such indicators could be well read from the state of affairs as existed in 2019 and even after that the J&K State PSUs/PSEs that had been created upto 2019 and were / are still there as ‘ailing units’ with their employees often seen pleading for even timely payment of wages & superannuation benefits inspite of there being no regular pension for them. The victims of the “sickness” of the J&K State PSUs have been only the employee families who have been born on PSU even when (1) most of the CEOs/ Managing Directors are appointed / sent on deputation by the Government , (2) if at all some manager from PSUs cadres that too has been happening ‘remotely’ without the involvement of the Bureau of PSEs and (3) total policy planning and decision making remains with the Government appointed Board of Directors .Almost all PSE units that the UT of J&K has inherited are commercially/ financially sick on real worth basis and the employees are found on roads even demanding timely payment of their regular wages, retirement dues on regular superannuation or voluntary retirement benefits ( in some case even deposit of the employer contribution towards Employees Contributory Provident Fund with the CPF Commissioner J&K are not upto date ).
To quote in October 2021 J&K PSEs were having Managing Directors / CEO on deputation from J&K Government like Smita Sethi a JKAS in J&K SIDCO/SICOP, Arun Manhas JKAS in JKSAIDC, Hashmat Ali Yatoo JKAS in J&K Handicrafts (S&E), Corporation/ additional charge of Handloom & Handicrafts Corpn, Mohd Akbar Wani JKAS in Cable Car corporation Ltd , Angrez Singh Rana JKAS in JKRTC , Ajay Kumar Sharma KAS in JK Financial Corporation , Mohd Saleem JKAS in J&K SC, ST and OBC Devt. Corpn.. Mohd Shahid Saleem Dar JKAS in JKHB, . Vikas Kundal IAS (2013) inf J&KPCC and like. Position may not be much changed even in 2023 except that officer posted from Government on deputation as MD may have changed.
J&K State Public sector companies /corporations needed immediate & “critical” attention and it was expected that atleast after the appointed date of the UT of J&K surely some meaningful reviews of the reports of studies on J&K PSUs done in the past { Rajan Committee Report 22-04-1980, Madhav Godbole Committee – economic reforms – Report 1998, Core Group Report ( 2004, Khursheed Ganai as Chairman) and High Power Committee Report 2006 (with BR Kundal as Chairman) that was accepted vide Government Order No.218-F of 2007. Dated:-16-7-2OO7 for GHS / VRS for implementation, } will be done but no such indications have appeared in public domain. Madhav Godbole Committee ( economic reforms ) recommended in 1998 for closure of PSUs like JKSRTC and merger of some units like SICOP/SIDCO/HPMC/AGRO but even the units that were recommended for closure ( like JKSRTC) or merger ( like HPMC) were allowed to work and instead huge amounts were given to SRTC for new projects without any well engineered studies /project reports for revival ignoring the earlier reports and it is still being hoped that some no policy brakes may be applied in near future.
J&K Overseas Employment corporation was created on13-10-2010 and the status and meaningful output is not known ( Indian express reported on 26-04-2016 “It makes no sense to have an organization doing absolutely nothing,” said then Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu while taking review of the Department of Employment, J&K Women’s Development Corporation, J&K Entrepreneurship Development, J&K Overseas Employment Corporation Minister of State for Finance Ajay Nanda was also present at the meeting.”
Had LG Manoj Sinha been provided the information on earlier committee reports from the records he would have surely first looked into the financial & managerial requirements with regard to establishment born on the cadres of PSE like J&K SRTC where vehicles being operated with even low paid / adhoc/ temporary contractual employees before clearing projects like 500 new busses.
No doubt LG Manoj Sinha and CS A.K. Mehta have been regularly expressing their serious concern for cultivating seriousness in the conduct of public affairs and it is being hoped that the affairs concerning the PSE enterprises of the UT of J&K too shall receive their focused attention to save any further unwanted support from the state exchequer as well as the future of the families of public sector cadres which may be living under socio-economic stresses , ofcourse with active role given to Bureau of Public Sector Enterprises.
May be LG Manoj Sinha and Chief Secretary Dr. A. K Mehta are not being adequately apprised about ‘Reports’ prepared & submitted on status of J&K PSEs in the past. Hope LG Manoj Sinha takes this feedback which should otherwise normally come from the ‘Bureaucracy’ in the concerned administrative departments dealing with PSEs.
(The author is a senior journalist and analyst of J&K Affairs, dayasagr45@yahoo.com).