CHANDIGARH: The process of reforms in the power sector must continue in consultation with all the stake holders including electricity board engineers and employees though the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2014 is set to lapse on June 3 when the term of the present Lok Sabha ends, said V K Gupta Spokesperson All India power Engineers Federation.

Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2014 was tabled in Lok Sabha on 19th December 2014 and the Budget session was the last Parliament session of the present government.

The main purpose of bill was the   segregation of carriage and content with the aim to privatize power supply. Bill was sent to standing committee of Parliament on power for enticing the views of all stakeholders. All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) submitted its representation before standing committee but standing committee did not invite any of the power employees’ federations to present their viewpoints.

Detailed talks were held with Piyush Goyal then Power Minister in January 2016 and it was assured by him that the concerns of power engineers will be addressed in the bill. The points agreed were that the amendment bill shall be a enabling provision in the act and shall not be mandatory for the states, no cherry picking will be allowed and all the supply licenses will have universal power supply obligation, there will be no compulsion to introduce private power distribution licenses and the states will have the option to go for all state owned power supply licensees. States will have to submit the roadmap in five years and there will not be any time limit to implement to roadmap.

Finally amended draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2018 was issued in September 2018 and concerns of engineers and employees as agreed in January 2016 were not addressed. AIPEF again submitted its viewpoints to the Ministry of Power.

 Power sector is facing serious challenges such as large scale financial losses, rising tariffs, deteriorating performance of existing plants, fuel availability and quality related concerns and poor quality of supply and service. The proposed amendments aim at making fundamental changes to the sector structure and organization, but it is not clear how these changes will help in tackling the issues mentioned above.

There is light at the end of tunnel and who so ever comes to power after elections will consider the suggestions of engineers so that reform process is speeded up, said V K Gupta.