The Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL), the state
electricity board, is planning to set aside a total of Rs 800 crore to
fund a VRS and a pension scheme.
Out of the Rs 800 crore fund, a total of Rs 600 crore would be used to
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create a pension fund while the rest will be used for a voluntary
retirement scheme, a KPTC official told Business Standard. The planned
fund is part of the current restructuring exercise which is underway in
the corporation to make it a leaner and fitter organisation, the
official said. He said the average age of the employees in the
corporation was around 40 years with nearly 27,000 of them being
linesmen and meter readers.
He said the corporation would employ a two-pronged approach to cut down
on flab. While it attempts cutting down on establishment cost, it would
also try getting rid of unproductive staff.
He said the corporation has identified around 5,000 persons who were
unproductive for various reasons. He also said once the entire billing
process is computerised, billing clerks will either have to be
redeployed or asked to leave the organisation.
The official said by the end of the year 2000, nearly 8,000 would become
eligible for VRS. Hence, they would have to be compensated in terms of a
gratuity and other pensionary benefits.
The corporation was planning to set aside around Rs 600 crore for this
purpose apart from Rs 200 crore which would be earmarked for the
voluntary retirement scheme. The KPTC has so far made investments of
around Rs 400 crore-600 crore each year for infrastructure upgradation,
and according to the official, it would require at least Rs 1,500 crore
per year for upgrading infrastructure.
However, budgetary support from the government has dwindled from around
83 crore during 1995-96 to almost nothing, while the subsidy burden has
increased to around Rs 1,223 crore during the current year. The cash
subsidy from the state government too has declined from Rs 351 crore in
1996-97 to around Rs 85 crore in 1998-99.