New PLCs in power sector in trouble

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The newly created state-owned public limited companies (PLCs) in the power sector are facing problems in decision making due to appointment of non-technical persons as their chairmen, reports UNB.
According to official sources, the government has appointed some retired and in-service bureaucrats as chairmen of these new corporate bodies to maintain a sort of control over them.
But most of the bureaucrats could not match with the new corporate culture in decision making because of their old mindset. But these corporate bodies need prompt and dynamic decisions for the sake of business, the sources said.
Besides, they said, most of the chairmen came from the administrative cadre who had little technical know-how to deal with the matters of the power sector, creating another complication in decision making.
The sources further said the in-service bureaucrats could hardly manage time to guide their organisations as chairmen as they always remained busy with affairs of their own ministries.
The government had so far created six new PLCs in the power sector as part of the reform programme to infuse dynamism into the sector.
The new PLCs are Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd (PGCB), Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh Ltd (EGCB), Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (DESCO), Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), Ashuganj Power Company Ltd (APCL) and West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd (WZPDC).
Among the companies, according to the sources, only the APCL was running well as it had got a chairman who previously served as managing director (MD) of the PGCB, the first corporate state-owned PLC in the power sector, and he had experience of dealing with corporate matters.
Apart from the APCL, all other five PLCs were not getting such advantage as they either got in-service bureaucrats or retired ones, the sources said.
The DESCO and PGCB have got a former additional secretary and a secretary as their chairmen, while the chairmen of DPDC, EGCB and WZPDC are serving secretaries.
Among them, the EGCB, now one of the major organisations in the power sector, was facing serious problems with its chairman as it had a number of old, new and under-construction power plants, the sources said.
The EGCB had got a secretary of a vital ministry as its chairman, but the secretary could hardly take time off his busy schedule to join the EGCB board meeting, the sources alleged.
As a result, they said, many important issues that were in need of the EGCB board's approval remained pending. Sometimes, the sources alleged, the EGCB chairman failed to understand the matters due to lack of technical knowledge and refrained from giving his nod to the matters.
The DESCO was also facing similar problems in decision making, said another source.
Recently, a meeting, held at a city hotel for orientation of chairmen and managing directors of PLCs in power sector, discussed such problems.
Initially, according to the sources, either the power secretary or the PDB were the ex-officio chairmen of the PLCs. But later the government appointed secretaries from other ministries as their chairmen.
Experts suggest that the government should appoint technically knowledgeable persons from different educational institutes like BUET or ex-chairmen of the PDB as chairmen of the new PLCs to overcome the problems.