The controversy over KSEB comes at a time when the state’s power sector is ready for change.
The controversy over KSEB comes at a time when the state’s power sector is ready for change.
For the past several weeks, it has been raining for a long time in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala. Conflict between management and union of pro-left executives Government-run electricity utility, Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEB).
Even for a state where strikes are hardly a novelty, stalemate remains key material, largely because of the multiplicity of narratives in play. The suspension of a woman officer, who had reportedly gone on unauthorized leave in March, sparked protests by the pro-CPI(M) officers’ association – the KSEB Officers’ Association (KSEBOA).
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KSEBOA called for a half-day protest on 5 April, to which the management responded without any orders. However, the protest went ahead as planned, and two more officials – the union’s state president and general secretary – were suspended. Soon after, KSEBOA started an indefinite agitation outside the KSEB headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, urging the management to drop its confrontational approach. Although the three officers were later reinstated in service, they were removed from their posts.
On 20 April, the power minister, K Krishnankutty, announced that the KSEB management would settle the matter peacefully, but the tensions were showing no signs of abating. KSEBOA has finished the first phase of its movement, and is gearing up for a more intense second phase.
At one level, the entire episode is treated as an inter-institutional tug-of-war – a 1998 batch IAS officer heading a state-run company versus the person heading KSEBOA. But beyond that, the conflict has ignited a debate on trade unionism, although management argues that the statute only allows the working class to engage in trade union activities.
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KSEB, which employs 33,000 people and has a consumer base of 1.3 crore, is one of the better performing institutions in the state.
While Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has so far not made any direct reference to the current problems in KSEB, many of his party colleagues have supported KSEBOA. CITU state president Ananthalavattam Anandan, a senior CPI(M) leader, was particularly critical of the management. The fact that the power portfolio is held by a non-CPI(M) minister has not made things easy for the pro-CPI(M) unions in KSEB. Tensions between the management and the pro-Left unions are at risk of boiling over since the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) came to power for the second time in a row under Mr Vijayan in 2021.
For the power sector, the second term brought a significant change. After 1987, the CPI(M) – that is, ever since it came to power – has not abandoned its portfolio. But this time, it went to the LDF constituent Janata Dal (Secular). KSEB also got a new chairman and managing director (CMD) in B Ashok, after JD(S) veteran Mr Krishnankutty, who handled water resources in the previous LDF government, took over as power minister. The twin changes loosened the hold of the KSEBOA, which it had maintained for years.
Mr Krishnankutty and Mr Ashok go on record saying that KSEB has marked an operating profit of ₹1,400 crore in the financial year 2021-22, the highest since KSEB transformed into a state-owned company in 2013 . But pro-CPI (M) officials claim that the credit should go to CPI(M) leader MM Mani, who was the power minister in the previous LDF government. It goes without saying that returning the power utility to normalcy is in the best interest of the LDF government. The state’s power sector is gearing up for major changes, a struggle taking place at a completely inappropriate moment.
tiki.rajwi@thehindu.co.in