GUWAHATI, May 31 – It seems that the State’s efforts at power reforms may go haywire as the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) authorities’ failure to include a sum of around Rs 1,900 crore for the terminal benefit of the Board employees. The Board had earlier formulated a proposal for introducing reforms in the power sector worth Rs 1,200 crore for the purpose of availing a loan worth 250 million dollars from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The latest stand-off in the ASEB following the agitational programme announced by the State wing of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEE&E) brought to light this shortcoming in the reforms programme. The NCCOEE&E State wing has been demanding terminal benefits to the present and retired employees of the ASEB, besides continuance of the power reforms initiative in a single entity, among others.
The State NCCOEE&E, a joint platform of 18 of the 19 trade unions and associations of the ASEB workers, employees and engineers, had on May 18, announced that it would go for a 24-hour strike from 6 am of June 9 next in support of its demands. The ASEB authorities had held a discussion with the representatives of the NCCOEE&E on May 21. The authorities claimed during the discussion that day that the reforms initiatives were introduced as mandated by the Central Electricity Act, 2003. As per the Act, five companies were sought to be created out of the ASEB, they said.
On the issue of failure of the Board authorities to include the amount needed for the purpose of meeting the terminal liabilities of the already retired and existing employees of the Board, the Board authorities said that the amount had already been estimated for and a proposal had also been sent to the State Government for the purpose of its approval, said NCCOEE&E sources here.
The terminal benefits to the ASEB employees, said the sources, are legitimate dues to them. The ASEB employees’ services are entitled to the pension benefits as per the Assam Government’s Pension Rule. But the ASEB authorities have so far not maintained any pension or gratuity etc terminal benefit funds for their employees.
Of the 22,000 employees of the Electricity Board 6,000 employees, have already retired due to their attainment of superannuating age. During the May 21 discussion, the Board management told the NCCOEE&E representatives that the State Government had issued an order on October 18 last year to make the ongoing payments to the existing pensioners of the Board and to those employees who would retire within the financial year of 2008-09.
The Government has also agreed to facilitate development of a plan for meeting the obligations of terminal benefits of the employees of the ASEB or its successor companies, the NCCOEE&E representatives were told by the ASEB management in the meeting. The Board has been pursuing the objective of creating a pension fund and pending actuary evaluation, it has provisionally estimated an amount of Rs 1,500 crore for the corpus of the fund.
The State Government has been urged upon to incorporate in its memorandum before the Twelfth Finance Commission to project a requirement of Rs 750 crore for the period of 2004 to 2009 by contributing Rs 150 crore each year. The objective was to create the pension fund with the contribution of the State Government to the extent of half of the requirement, while the remaining portion of the fund is to be acquired from other sources, the ASEB management told the NCCOEE&E representatives.
The ADB consultants have already started the works in respect of actuary evaluation of the terminal benefits of the employees of the Board, said the management. It is worth mentioning here that the Board now requires, as per a rough estimate, Rs 1,500 crore for clearing the pension and gratuity amounts to its employees, Rs 310 crore for clearing the GPF liabilities, Rs 82 crore to clear the dues to the already retired employees and Rs 26 crore to clear the dues against its GPF liabilities to the already retired employees.
The ASEB has again invited the NCCOEE&E for discussion on the grievances of the employees, on June 2 next. However, the NCCOEE&E has pleaded for proper response from ‘appropriate authority’, that is, — State Government, towards the issues raised by it as a pre-condition for reviewing its stand on the proposed agitation.