Handover of power distribution

Move sparks resentment

PDB workers demo at Bidyut Bhaban

Power Development Board (PDB) officials and workers staged an agitation at Bidyut Bhaban in Dhaka yesterday to protest against the government’s decision to handover electricity distribution in Rangpur and Rajshahi regions to another company.
The agitators allegedly vandalised the PDB chairman’s room and also demonstrated outside the rooms of the power minister and secretary, triggering panic in the building.
“Some of the agitators chanted slogans and tried to break the doors of officials’ chambers, including those of the minister and secretary at the 13th floor. They broke the door of the chairman’s room,” Chan Mia, a staff at the minister’s office at Bidyut Bhaban, told The Independent.
“We feel a sense of insecurity,” he added.
“All the workers and engineers are angry over the government’s decision to hand over distribution activities in Rajshahi and Rangpur. So, it is very tough to control their anger,” Alauddin Ahmed, secretary of Bidyut Sramik League, said.
Ahmed, however, denied that the agitators had vandalised the rooms of the minister and secretary.
He alleged that the government has always broken big organizations like PDB.
“They have been doing it for the past 25 years. The PDB was broken to form DESCO, PGCB, and WZPDC in the name of improvement. But where is the improvement?” he said.  

“We can handle Rajshahi and Rangpur regions as the distribution situation is improving. But if you hand over the distribution to a separate company, the service will be costlier and people have to pay higher bills,” he added.
State minister for power and energy, Nasrul Hamid, said he did not have much information on the agitation.
“I do not know anything about it, but I will investigate the matter. If I find anything wrong, I will take serious action against those responsible,” he added.
Following the agitation, the power ministry has called an emergency meeting with the agitated officials and workers tomorrow.
Sources said the PDB had suddenly handed over 1.8 million customers in Rajshahi and Rangpur regions, which include power distribution lines in 16 districts, to the North West Zone Power Distribution Company (NWZPDC) on Monday evening.
NWZPDC managing director Zakiul Islam said, “We are proceeding as per the government’s decision. We will take a final decision after observing the situation.”
As per the deal with PDB, NWZPDC will run as a separate company. An official said no one will be retrenched after the handover and the PDB staff will be absorbed into NWZPDC with maximum benefits.
Mahbub Alam, chairman of the NWZPDC, told The Independent that they will absorb around 2000 PDB workers working in this region. “As per the government’s commitment, we will not take away any job, but give them much more facilities than the PDB,” he said.
“Our employees will get the benefit of having the retirement age of  62 years. PDB employees’ retirement age is fixed at 59 years. However, anyone can opt to work for the PDB, if they wish to,” he added.
According to NWZPDC officials, the move to hand over distribution followed huge system loss in PDB’s Rajshahi and Rangpur regions, which was significantly more than in other areas. An official said the system loss was more than 17 per cent, even though it was supposed to be less than 6 to 7per cent.
But some PDB officials said that a performance report last month had stated the system loss in Rajshahi and Rangpur to be 10.5 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively. The situstion is improving in these areas, they added.
The state minister for power and energy said that there was huge power theft in the name of system loss. “We have to stop all the illegal activities. Otherwise, we will not be able to sustain power generation,” he added.
The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have been putting pressure on the government for power sector reforms as a condition for continued investments in the sector.

Handover of power distribution

Move sparks resentment

PDB workers demo at Bidyut Bhaban

Power Development Board (PDB) officials and workers staged an agitation at Bidyut Bhaban in Dhaka yesterday to protest against the governments decision to handover electricity distribution in Rangpur and Rajshahi regions to another company. The agitators allegedly vandalised the PDB chairmans room and also demonstrated outside the rooms of the power minister and secretary, triggering panic in the building. Some of the agitators chanted slogans and tried to break the doors of officials chambers, including those of the minister and secretary at the 13th floor. They broke the door of the chairmans room, Chan Mia, a staff at the ministers office at Bidyut Bhaban, told The Independent. We feel a sense of insecurity, he added. All the workers and engineers are angry over the governments decision to hand over distribution activities in Rajshahi and Rangpur. So, it is very tough to control their anger, Alauddin Ahmed, secretary of Bidyut Sramik League, said. Ahmed, however, denied that the agitators had vandalised the rooms of the minister and secretary. He alleged that the government has always broken big organizations like PDB. They have been doing it for the past 25 years. The PDB was broken to form DESCO, PGCB, and WZPDC in the name of improvement. But where is the improvement? he said. We can handle Rajshahi and Rangpur regions as the distribution situation is improving. But if you hand over the distribution to a separate company, the service will be costlier and people have to pay higher bills, he added. State minister for power and energy, Nasrul Hamid, said he did not have much information on the agitation. I do not know anything about it, but I will investigate the matter. If I find anything wrong, I will take serious action against those responsible, he added. Following the agitation, the power ministry has called an emergency meeting with the agitated officials and workers tomorrow. Sources said the PDB had suddenly handed over 1.8 million customers in Rajshahi and Rangpur regions, which include power distribution lines in 16 districts, to the North West Zone Power Distribution Company (NWZPDC) on Monday evening. NWZPDC managing director Zakiul Islam said, We are proceeding as per the governments decision. We will take a final decision after observing the situation. As per the deal with PDB, NWZPDC will run as a separate company. An official said no one will be retrenched after the handover and the PDB staff will be absorbed into NWZPDC with maximum benefits. Mahbub Alam, chairman of the NWZPDC, told The Independent that they will absorb around 2000 PDB workers working in this region. As per the governments commitment, we will not take away any job, but give them much more facilities than the PDB, he said. Our employees will get the benefit of having the retirement age of 62 years. PDB employees retirement age is fixed at 59 years. However, anyone can opt to work for the PDB, if they wish to, he added. According to NWZPDC officials, the move to hand over distribution followed huge system loss in PDBs Rajshahi and Rangpur regions, which was significantly more than in other areas. An official said the system loss was more than 17 per cent, even though it was supposed to be less than 6 to 7per cent. But some PDB officials said that a performance report last month had stated the system loss in Rajshahi and Rangpur to be 10.5 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively. The situstion is improving in these areas, they added. The state minister for power and energy said that there was huge power theft in the name of system loss. We have to stop all the illegal activities. Otherwise, we will not be able to sustain power generation, he added. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have been putting pressure on the government for power sector reforms as a condition for continued investments in the sector.