Speaking at the general body meeting of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Engineers' Association here today, Badal said over 70 per cent of the population in the state was dependent on agriculture. The free power benefit to the agricultural sector was worth only Rs 350 crore, which could be compensated by other savings in PSEB working.

He announced that the projects of Shahpur Kandi and Lehra Mohabbat Stage-2 shall be executed departmentally. He thanked the PSEB engineers for giving a stable power system to Punjab and called for a 100-years plan document for implementation in the country like Japan. He lamented the delay in execution of Thein Dam for over 15 years due to neglect of the Congress-led Central governments. He felt sorry for the present faults in Thein Dam and expressed the hope that it will be commissioned within the next six months.

Badal said the financial resources of the country and state were limited and suggestions to finance the PSEB schemes internally were welcome. He said theft of power was to be stopped with the cooperation of engineers and workers and condemned the tendency of officers to get postings at so-called lucrative places through politicians. Badal said privatisation could be avoided if corruption was stopped.

Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Rajya Sabha MP, thanked the PSEB engineers for their cooperation during his tenure of seven months as the PSEB chairman. He said he left the post of PSEB chairman as he wanted a technocrat to head the Board as PSEB has a history of excellent technical chairmen like R.S. Gill and N.S. Vasant. He called the period of Vasant in PSEB as the "golden period".

He recommended that the re-designation demand of engineers be accepted as it does not have financial implications and called for steps to end stagnation in the ranks of PSEB engineers. He agreed that while the revision of tariff was overdue, theft of power needed to be checked. He wanted an all-out war against theft of power, which will lead to an increase in revenue of Rs 600 crore per annum.

Earlier, Padamjit Singh, president of the PSEB Engineers' Association, in his presidential address, gave a clarion call to PSEB engineers and other officers of the state to "invest honesty" in their working. He said privatisation of electricity boards was no solution to the power sector problems of India and warned that privatisation shall lead to very high tariff of the order of Rs 5 per unit, thus breaking the backbone of industry and agriculture.

He recommended that the free supply of agricultural power be stopped forthwith and a minimum Rs 75 per BHP per month be charged while other power tariffs in Punjab be hiked to the level of Haryana state, giving a rise in PSEB revenue by Rs 1,800 crore per annum. He also suggested that a project surcharge of 25 paise per unit be incorporated in the tariff. He demanded complete computerisation of PSEB within the next three years.

PSEB chairman S.K. Tuteja said in management, the higher you go the lesser is the need of technical competence.

N.S. Vasant, advisor, energy, Punjab, said no private promoter has been able to create a generating plant in Punjab despite the loud talk about it. He demanded reconstitution of SEBs with handpicked professionals and technocrats, a fixed term of three years and autonomy. He called for review of tariff and decrease in subsidy. He said privitisation of the power sector would lead to destruction of the Indian economy.

R.S. Gill, former PSEB chairman, said no industry in India has developed without government protection and so is the case of the power sector. He said like other sectors, the power sector needs to be promoted by government and there is no need of privatisating SEBs if these are run on commercial lines and managed by efficient technocrats.