Our Correspondent
Kohima | August 24
Mounting deficit in electricity revenue in Nagaland has compelled an emergency meeting of all officers of the Power department on August 20 in the Chief Engineer’s (Power) office here. Addressing the meeting, Minister for Power Doshehe Y. Sema said there is a ‘natural’ tendency in the people to consider electricity as free without realizing how much it costs to provide them with such a facility.
During 2009-10, the cost of power-purchasing alone accounted for Rs. 126.38 crore while the revenue was only Rs. 73.65 crore (i.e Rs. 44.76 crore internal revenue + Rs. 28.89 crore bilateral exchanges) which is around 58 per cent. “This huge deficit in the revenue has affected the plan-fund allocation to Nagaland by the Centre. “The Power department being a commercial department, it should therefore conduct the business of electivity purely on commercial terms since electricity does not come free,” a release received here said. The meeting decided to immediately commence disconnection of defaulters’ lines, check power theft and defaulting SPM/VEMBS with the assistance of the police and the administration; explore outsourcing of billing in revenue intensive areas particularly in Dimapur, Kohima, Chumukedima and Mokokchung; conduct monthly co-ordination meetings to monitor revenue and adopt steps and measures for not only achieving revenue targets but also to exceed the target set.
In the meeting, the minister desired to know the grievances confronting the officers of the Power department. The department highlighted various problems. These included shortage of meter-readers, untimely release of salaries to meter-readers as majority of them are work-charged employees; defective meters, inadequate resources for conducting revenue drives, IT intervention for streamlining the billing process, indisciplined workers and power theft. Doshehe noted the grievances but said many quarters do not realize the ground realities and difficulties encountered by the department. However, these problems are not isolated to Nagaland alone but common to all power utilities in the country, he asserted. Sema assured that efforts will be made by the government to address and resolve some of the issues. However, Sema remarked that even within available resources and existing constraints, there is ample room for improvement to mobilize revenue collection and provide better services to consumers. The department, he said, must act as a torch-bearer for other departments to emulate.
Officers and staff of the department were also urged to be more sincere in their duties and revive work culture “since performance will be based on merits.” The chief engineer (Power) has also appealed to all electricity consumers in the state to pay their bills promptly to avoid disconnection of their power supply.
