Govt to seek crime branch help to chek middlemen

The Karnataka government at the weekend decided to seek the help of Crime Branch to check “middlemen” cheating guillible job seekers in the ongoing recruitment by its Energy Supply companies.

Even as the government set in motion the process to recruit 2,000 linesmen for electricity supply companies and Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd by inviting applications from aspirants online, touts have become active, promising selection in return for monetary consideration, Minister for Energy Shobha Karandlaje told reporters here.

She said, recruitment would be purely on ‘merit’, taking into consideration marks scored by the applicants in ITI exam and in accordance with the roster system.

She urged people not to get carried away by false promises by “middlemen” and said they could bring such instances to the notice of her department or police.

The laste date for submitting applications is January 11, 2012, she said. The government plans to recruit another 2,500 linesmen, Assistant Engineers and Junior Engineers next year, she said.

She said 580 linesmen would be recruited to Bangalore Electric Company (Bescom), 346 in Mangalore Electricity Company, 567 by Gulbarga Electricity Company, Chamundeswari Electricity Company 187 and 85 in KPTCL. So far 182,000 applications have been received, she said.

Shobha said the government anticipated no constraints in meeting power demand, expected to touch 180 million unit daily in coming summer, as hydel reservoirs have adequate storage.

The state plans to ensure 45 million units of power generation from hydel sources. Efforts are to purchase 400 mw from sugar factories, she said.