PSPCL technical staff back on ground duties amid peak demand
Facing an acute staff shortage and surging electricity demand due to rising temperatures, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has issued an urgent directive to redeploy technical employees currently assigned to administrative roles back to field duties
Ludhiana : Facing an acute staff shortage and surging electricity demand due to rising temperatures, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has issued an urgent directive to redeploy technical employees currently assigned to administrative roles back to field duties.
In a letter dated April 16, PSPCL instructed all circle, division, and sub-division offices to immediately relieve technical staff from desk-based roles and reassign them to their designated field positions. The directive applies across all technical departments, including distribution, workshops, and stores.
According to officials, this measure is necessary to maintain uninterrupted power supply during the peak summer season. “Several technical employees, originally meant for field duties, are working in offices, which is hampering field operations and delaying response times,” the letter stated.
Rashpal Singh, deputy general secretary of the PSPCL Employees’ Federation (AITUC), welcomed the move, saying it was long overdue. “Technical staff have been performing clerical duties for years due to a shortage of administrative personnel, but this has come at the cost of field operations, directly affecting consumers,” he said.
Another senior federation member revealed the extent of the issue, stating that over 75% of technical posts in Ludhiana are vacant, yet many technicians remain tied to desk jobs. Meanwhile, out of 947 sanctioned clerical positions in Ludhiana, only 423 are currently filled.
A PSPCL official from the central zone confirmed that the recent heatwave caused a sharp rise in electricity demand, putting further pressure on an already overstretched infrastructure.
Chief engineer (P&M wing), Punnardeep Brar, acknowledged the staffing imbalance and said clerical recruitment is already underway. “In the interim, technical staff were temporarily reassigned to clerical roles to ensure continuity of operations,” he added.
The redeployment is aimed at plugging critical field-level gaps and preventing widespread outages as summer demand peaks.
