Sebs Gaining In Staff Efficiency

The state electricity boards (SEBs) are becoming more efficient. If the figures compiled by the Planning Commission are any indication, the overall efficiency of SEBs, measured in terms of the number of employees per million kilowatt hour (MKwh) of electricity sold, has improved from 3.6 to 2.53 between 1995-96 and 2001-02.

In other words, on average, 3.6 employees across all SEBs were involved per MKwh of electricity sold in 1995-96. In 2001-02, a lesser number of employees, 2.53, managed the same.

Nearly all the SEBs have registered an improvement in employee efficiency over the past few years. Led by traditional laggards like the Bihar State Electricity Board, which had a ratio of six employees per MKwh of electricity sold in 1995, the figure improved to 3.38 in 2001-02. Similarly, in the case of Rajasthan, the ratio has come down from 4.2 employees per MKwh of electricity sold in 1995-96 to 2.51 employees in 2001-02, as per the Planning Commission's annual report on the working of SEBs.

Interestingly, much of the improvement in employee efficiency has come about as a result of a check on recruitments by most SEBs. The total employee strength of SEBs came down from 984,000 in 1995-96 to around 939,000 in 2001-02, with retirements not being filled, power ministry officials said. Other than Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Punjab, all states have reported a reduction in their workforce in the last seven years.

With staff strength falling, the number of consumers per SEB employee has also improved from 11.5 in 1995-96 to 7.78 in 2001-02.