Turning PDB into corporate entity
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
THE Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), or PDB, in short, is one of the largest as well as the most vital state-owned enterprises (SoEs) in the country. It is responsible for providing power to the household consumers as well as the industries and commercial entities. But being a state controlled one, it also inherits all the syndromes that any other government-managed service providers are afflicted with. The multilateral donors like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) have already promised the technical and financial support to carry out the necessary structural reforms in the PDB. As part of this structural reform initiative, a foreign consulting company has also been employed to recommend the operational structure and the business plan of the PDB as a corporate entity. Though the international consultant was given one year's contract to finish the job in February 2006, the foreign company is yet to complete its job. The reason has been attributed to the political instability that marked the final days of the immediate past elected government.
However, the New Zealand-based consultant again started its work after the incumbent caretaker government took office, but, again, the work could not be finished as yet. The latest argument for the delay is, however, of a different nature. It cropped up in the manner of the difference of opinion between the PDB authorities and the consultant over the organogram suggested for the future PDB under a corporate framework. The point of difference has reportedly been the drastically trimmed down staff size of the corporatised service provider in the power sector as proposed in the first draft produced by the consultant. Whatever the merit of the suggestion made by the consultant about the future staffing pattern of a corporatised PDB, it would be worthwhile to note here that the major problem with most of the government-run service providing organisations is their oversized manpower structure.
Whether keeping the size of the staff in a reformed SoE like the PDB below 100, as recommended by the consultant in its fist proposal, is reasonable or not is another question. But still the fact remains that the PDB's present 6,000-strong staff size is also far from an ideal one. For in a modern management parlance, it is not the number, but the quality of the staff that matters in the efficient delivery of service. Moreover, corruption is another scourge that has a lot to do with the lack of efficiency, which under no circumstances can be expected to be watered down by any number game. There is yet another point of no less importance to note here. That is about the terms of reference according to which the foreign consultant would prepare its recommendations within the stipulated time. In that case, inordinate delays or disagreements hardly speak well for the clarity or the comprehensiveness of the terms of work under which the consultant has been employed to complete its task.
So, it is hoped that the authorities concerned and the consultant would concentrate more on these points to avoid further divergences of opinion and the consequent delays which are liable to unnecessarily cost the nation in terms of additional payments to be made to foreign company tasked with the job. Corporatisaton of the PDB will not only enrich the capital market, the PDB itself will be benefited from the former. For in that case, it will be able to pool its capital from the common investors in the market other than depending on the government or on the commercial banks. And, the sooner the task of transforming the PDB into a corporate entity is completed, the better it is for the state-managed power distribution body as well its customers. Therefore, it would be well-advised for the authorities concerned to consider the issue with added urgency.
However, the New Zealand-based consultant again started its work after the incumbent caretaker government took office, but, again, the work could not be finished as yet. The latest argument for the delay is, however, of a different nature. It cropped up in the manner of the difference of opinion between the PDB authorities and the consultant over the organogram suggested for the future PDB under a corporate framework. The point of difference has reportedly been the drastically trimmed down staff size of the corporatised service provider in the power sector as proposed in the first draft produced by the consultant. Whatever the merit of the suggestion made by the consultant about the future staffing pattern of a corporatised PDB, it would be worthwhile to note here that the major problem with most of the government-run service providing organisations is their oversized manpower structure.
Whether keeping the size of the staff in a reformed SoE like the PDB below 100, as recommended by the consultant in its fist proposal, is reasonable or not is another question. But still the fact remains that the PDB's present 6,000-strong staff size is also far from an ideal one. For in a modern management parlance, it is not the number, but the quality of the staff that matters in the efficient delivery of service. Moreover, corruption is another scourge that has a lot to do with the lack of efficiency, which under no circumstances can be expected to be watered down by any number game. There is yet another point of no less importance to note here. That is about the terms of reference according to which the foreign consultant would prepare its recommendations within the stipulated time. In that case, inordinate delays or disagreements hardly speak well for the clarity or the comprehensiveness of the terms of work under which the consultant has been employed to complete its task.
So, it is hoped that the authorities concerned and the consultant would concentrate more on these points to avoid further divergences of opinion and the consequent delays which are liable to unnecessarily cost the nation in terms of additional payments to be made to foreign company tasked with the job. Corporatisaton of the PDB will not only enrich the capital market, the PDB itself will be benefited from the former. For in that case, it will be able to pool its capital from the common investors in the market other than depending on the government or on the commercial banks. And, the sooner the task of transforming the PDB into a corporate entity is completed, the better it is for the state-managed power distribution body as well its customers. Therefore, it would be well-advised for the authorities concerned to consider the issue with added urgency.