Over the past several weeks, Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram has been witnessing a protracted struggle between the management and the pro-Left officers’ association of the government-run power utility, the Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd (KSEB).
Even for a State where strikesare scarcely a novelty, the stand-off has remained headline material, largely due to the multiplicity of narratives in play. The suspension of a woman officer, who allegedly went on unauthorised leave in March, had drawn protests from the pro-CPI(M) officers’ organisation — the KSEB Officers’ Association (KSEBOA).
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The KSEBOA called a half-day protest on April 5, to which the management responded with a dies-non order. The protest, however, went ahead as planned, and two more officers — the state president and general secretary of the association — were placed under suspension. Soon after, the KSEBOA began an indefinite stir outside the KSEB headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, urging the management to drop its confrontational approach. Although all three officers were subsequently reinstated in service, they were shunted out from their posts.
On April 20, the Electricity Minister, K. Krishnankutty, announced that the KSEB management would settle the matter peacefully, but the tensions show no signs of easing. The KSEBOA has ended the first stage of its stir, and is poised for a much more intense second phase.
At one level, the entire episode is perceived as an intra-institutional tug-of-war — a 1998 batch IAS officer heading the state-run company versus individuals leading the KSEBOA. But beyond it, the tussle has ignited a debate on trade unionism, although the management argues that the statute permits only workmen category to engage in trade union activities.
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The 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 himself is yet to make any direct reference to the current problems in the KSEB, several of his party colleagues have backed the KSEBOA. CITU state president Anathalavattom Anandan, a CPI(M) veteran, was especially critical of the management. The fact that the power portfolio is held by a non-CPI(M) Minister has not made things any easier for the pro-CPI(M) unions in the KSEB. Tensions between the management and the pro-Left unions have threatened to boil over ever since the new CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) dispensation came to power under Mr. Vijayan for a second consecutive term in 2021.
For the power sector, the second stint brought an important change. After 1987, the CPI(M) — whenever it came to power since, that is — has not let go of the portfolio. But this time, it went to an LDF constituent, the Janata Dal (Secular). After Mr. Krishnankutty, a JD(S) veteran who handled Water Resources in the previous LDF government, took over as Electricity Minister, the KSEB also got a new chairman and managing director (CMD) in B. Ashok. The twin changes loosened the grip the KSEBOA had maintained for years.
Mr. Krishnankutty and Mr. Ashok have gone on record stating that the KSEB has marked an operational profit of ₹1,400 crore in the 2021-22 fiscal, the highest since the KSEB metamorphosed into a government-owned company in 2013. But pro-CPI(M) officers claim that the credit should go to M.M. Mani, the CPI(M) leader who was Electricity Minister in the previous LDF dispensation. It goes without saying that it is in the best interests of the LDF government to return the power utility to normalcy. The tussle is happening at a thoroughly inopportune moment as the State’s power sector is poised for major changes.
tiki.rajwi@thehindu.co.in
