Haryana Power Generation Engineers Association (HPGEA) has alleged that the indifferent and callous attitude of Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) has led to an acute shortage of manpower especially the officers’ level posts at the thermal projects in the state.

Vikas Rathor, general secretary of the HPGEA, alleged that HPGCL is increasing the numbers of the chair and office engineers leaving the operation and maintenance, ground and field engineers in the projects overburdened and inadequate in the thermal plants at Yamunanagar, Panipat, and Hisar.

Rathor said, “When no power was coming from Adani Power in last calendar year, Haryana’s own thermal power projects in Panipat, Yamunanagar, and Hisar were under tremendous pressure to produce electricity. HPGCL projects’ engineers and officials accomplished this task in an exceptional manner despite an acute shortage of manpower. A number of assistant engineers and executive engineers have been loaded with additional charges. Slowly and gradually, engineers are being drawn from operation and maintenance duties and are being posted in non-technical office work, both in the projects and at HPGCL head office at Panchkula.”

The HPGEA informed that there are several engineers who were sent to China on HPGCL’s expense for learning and training at Chinese power plants located in Yamunanagar and Hisar but they were then posted in the head office. Not only this, despite severe manpower crunch, deputations are increasing from HPGCL and are being allowed to altogether different and non-technical departments which can only be inferred as wastage of resources.

HPGEA alleged that the promotions have come to a standstill in HPGCL from the last two years despite the facts that several posts at different levels are lying vacant but the management is delaying promotions leading to over-burdening of officials. Considering the unreliability of power procured from private players HPGCL must make optimum utilization of available resource.

TOI contacted Ashwani Sharma, chief engineer (Administration) HPGCL on this issue, who said, “The associations often make such demands but it is in the hands of the top management to actually manage the manpower to run the operations of the plants smoothly. I am not in the situation to talk much on this issue, only the managing director could talk.”

TOI tried reaching managing director Vineet Garg, who said, “I am busy in a meeting you could call in the evening.” When contacted in the evening, Garg remained incommunicado despite several attempts.