SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today had a thorough review of reforms undertaken by the Power Development Department (PDD) across the Union Territory to bring added efficiency in the power scenario besides reducing the AT&C losses considerably.
Principal Secretary, PDD, MD, JPDCL/KPDCL, DG, Resources, Chief Engineer, JPDCL/KPDCL, representatives from NTPC, PESL and other concerned officers attended the meeting held in this regard.
The Chief Secretary emphasised upon the officers to ensure the completion of all ongoing works taken up under power sector reforms and those aiming for loss reduction without any further delay. He also stressed on further bringing efficiency in billing and collection of revenue to saturate it fully for each feeder.
Regarding the pilferage of electricity, the Chief Secretary maintained that the huge gap between the supply of energy and the realization of revenue needs to be lessened for the overall development of the UT. He observed that the gap runs in several thousand crores of rupees which is unacceptable under any circumstances.
Dulloo asked the authorities to fix responsibility and initiate action against the lax officers in each area where a stark difference is found in billing or collection of revenue. He emphasised for laying focus on enforcement and legal action against the power theft so that the menace is totally eradicated from the UT.
Principal Secretary, PDD, H. Rajesh Prasad, gave an overview of the present status of all the reforms initiated in the UT. He informed the meeting about the status of smart metering and their integration and conversion into prepaid meters. He also threw light on different loss reduction works undertaken here in different districts by implementing agencies like JPDCL, KPDCL, PESL and NTPC.
It was informed in the meeting that PMDP Phase-I of smart metering has been completed and the work on phase 2nd is currently going on. It was elucidated that, till date, out of 5,57,994 meters 4,48,931 had been installed in J&K. It was added that 310 feeders have been saturated with the installation of smart meters thereby showing a considerable improvement in the reduction of AT&C losses.
Further, under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) phase-3, it was revealed that more than 7.5 lakh meters had to be installed for which a survey has been completed by both the discoms. It was given out that smart metering and loss reduction works to the tune of Rs 5620 crore had been approved by the Ministry of Power for the UT.
Explaining further, the meeting was apprised that works like LT cable replacement, HT line cabling, HT line conductor replacement, high voltage distribution system (HVDS) and segregation of feeders had to be accomplished under this project.
As far as the AT&C losses are concerned, it was revealed that the same had been reduced to 40% during 2023-24 compared to 51% in 2022-23. Besides, it was given out that gap between the Average Cost of Supply (ACS) and Average Revenue Realised (ARR) has further got squeezed to Rs 2.18/kWh in 2023-24 from Rs 2.44/kWh in 2022-23.
Giving details about the enforcement measures taken up by the department, it was said that vigorous enforcement and crackdown on power theft had lead to highest ever revenue realization for the quarter April-June, 2024. It was disclosed that in addition to making 18,199 disconnections, 6,152 connections were regularized by carrying out 78811 inspections by different electric Divisions of the UT.
Atal Dulloo reviews functioning of skilling institutions of JK
Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today convened a meeting with the Skill Development Department (SDD) to review the functioning of skill-imparting institutions like Polytechnic colleges and Industrial Training institutions (ITIs) of the UT.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary, SDD, Director, SDD, Special Secretary, SDD, Secretary, Board of Technical Education and other concerned officers.
The Chief Secretary took stock of the courses being offered by these technical institutions of the UT besides students’ responses towards these subjects. He also enquired about the percentage of skillful candidates getting placement after leaving such institutions and those finding gainful employment after adopting the self-employment of their choice.
Dulloo reviewed the progress made in imparting training to different artisans under the PM Vishwakarma scheme. He also took appraisal of the present status in the implementation of CSS like STRIVE, SANKALP and PMKVY.
He also assessed the action taken regarding the implementation of several directives given by him from time to time in the identification of futuristic skill trades, short-term pieces of training and other skill mapping initiatives after taking cognizance of actual market requirements.
Secretary, SDD, Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, made the presentation depicting progress recorded in each area of work and the novel initiatives taken by the department for making skill education more popular and market-driven. He threw light on popular courses and trades being offered in the ITIs of the UT. He also highlighted the manpower and infrastructure available in such institutions to train these candidates.
Regarding the implementation of short-term training (STT) programmes in the UT under PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), it was revealed that 94 institutions had been identified for the purpose. It was informed that these institutions are contemplated to impart training in 4 batches to an average of 30 candidates for nearly 4 months taking the number to more than 20000 candidates in a year in offline and online mode to some 31000 candidates.
The meeting was also apprised of 60 futuristic trades identified by the Department in Automotive, Agriculture, Electronics, Telecom, IT-ITES, Green Jobs, Logistics sectors besides others. It also deliberated upon the regular trades and those identified in Tourism & Hospitality sectors and in Food Processing, Media/Entertainment, Handicrafts besides Handloom sectors in different districts of J&K.
Based upon the analysis of feedback from the Industrial sector here, it was disclosed that the Diploma programmes like Mechanical/Electrical/Electronics/Computers-IT/Automobile are in high demand. For ITIs the trades like Turner/Fitter/Welder/Electrician/Refrigeration and AC/Computer Hardware & Networking/ COPA/Data Entry were ascertained to be of greater utility in the market.
The other skill sets favoured by the industry included Auto CAD, Supply chain, Retail and Logistics, CNC Operator , Food Manufacturing/ Processing, Packaging, Cold Storage Technician/ Plant Machinery Operator/Hygiene Coordinator, Sales Assistant, Consignment Booking Assistant, Courier Delivery Executive, Inventory Clerk, Supply Chain Executive, Supply Chain Executive, Warehouse Manager, Land Transportation Executive, Construction Painter & Decorator, Construction Electrician , False Ceiling & Dry Wall Installer, Fabricator, Surveyor etc, as was apprised in this meeting.
Kashmir Images is an English language daily newspaper published from Srinagar (J&K), India. The newspaper is one of the largest circulated English dailies of Kashmir and its hard copies reach every nook and corner of Kashmir Valley besides Jammu and Ladakh region.
