Saturday, June 21, 2014

Power Minister issues directives to improve department functioning

GANGTOK, 20 June: Power Minister DD Bhutia chaired a meeting of the department on 19 June during which different issues faced by the department were highlighted. The meeting was also attended by Secretary, Power & Energy Department, PB Subba, along with officers and staff of East district.
In the address, the Minister stressed on strict attendance with the implementation of biometric scanners and CCTV cameras in the department offices, informs a press release. He urged the employees to work sincerely and responsibly and to apply for leave in advance.
Mr. Bhutia said that during his surprise visit to the different power houses of the state, he noticed many instances of illegal encroachment of land belonging to the department. He directed department officials to take necessary action for the eviction of these illegal occupants.
Since the Power Department is a major revenue earning department, all sanctioned schemes/ works being implemented by the department need to be completed on time as any delay would lead to loss of revenue of the state, he stressed further adding that strict action would be taken to ensure completion of work on time.
All the outstanding electricity arrears are to be recovered by sending notices to the defaulting consumers else the lines are to be disconnected and appropriate action to be taken, directed the Minister.
It was also observed that the many of the defaulting consumers are Government Departments.
It was further stated that even if the consumer is availing the benefit of subsidy in the electricity consumption in rural areas, proper meters (manufactured as per specifications approved by the Energy and Power Department) need to be installed.
The field staff of the department need to be trained from time to time to efficiently manage the vast infrastructure of the Department. Inadequate training and safety measure may lead to frequent accidents and loss of lives, it was added.
Excess staff and officers should be trained and re-deployed for revenue collection and monitoring of leakages of the power supply, the Minister said further adding that all the state owned Power generating units need to run efficiently so that Sikkim need not depend on import of power supply.

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