‘Probe reasons for delayed FIRs in power theft cases before taking action’
THE UPERC ON WEDNESDAY ASKED THE UPPCL TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST THE ERRING 1,882 ENGINEERS WITHIN NEXT TWO MONTHS
LUCKNOW : The UP Rajya Vidyut Parishad Junior Engineers’ Sangathan, a body representing power sector junior engineers in the state, has sharply reacted to the UP Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (UPERC) directions for action against 1,882 engineers for delaying lodging of first information reports (FIRs) in power theft cases.
On the UPERC’s directives, the UPPCL has identified these engineers for punishment on the ground that they did not lodge FIRs in power theft cases within the stipulated 24 hours of detecting theft on consumers’ premises.
“The UPPCL has identified engineers to be erring arbitrarily on the basis of wrong and misleading information,” Sangathan’s central patron Satnam Singh said warning the UPPCL against taking any action against engineers without doing proper homework.
He said engineers were not responsible for any delay in lodging FIRs in power theft cases. “The engineers keep on taking rounds of electricity police stations to lodge FIRs after conducting raids but overloaded police stations take their own time to act,” he said. He also gave some specific examples to substantiate his claim.
“We demand the UPPCL to order an inquiry into the reasons for delayed FIRs before it takes action against any engineer,” Singh said. It is alleged that engineers often delay lodging FIRs deliberately to indulge in bargaining with the accused consumers.
The UPERC on Wednesday asked the UPPCL to take action against the erring 1,882 engineers within next two months and also asked it to send a notice to electricity police stations asking them to ensure that FIRs were registered immediately. The commission listed the case for hearing on May 26.
UP Rajay Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad chairman Avadhesh Kumar Verma, in the meantime, on Friday said UPPCL’s accumulated losses stood at around Rs 90,000 crore which he claimed were highest in the country.
In a statement here, he said the rampant corruption and inefficiency in the corporation were responsible for its losses. “The UPERC must not to allow any power tariff increase to the UPPCL to compensate for its deficit for which its inefficiency alone is responsible,” Verma demanded.