Palli Bidyut Protest: Staff shortage sparks concerns over Eid power supply

Power supply during the Eid-ul-Azha holidays may be disrupted in many rural areas as Palli Bidyut Samity (PBS) workers continue to protest, causing staff shortages in several offices across Bangladesh.

With the Eid vacation beginning today and many city dwellers travelling to their hometowns, officials from various PBSs say that they may not be able to ensure uninterrupted electricity due to a lack of line crews and technical staffers.

Eighty PBSs distribute about 60 percent of the country's total power supply under the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB).

Employees from multiple zones have joined an ongoing demonstration at Dhaka's Central Shaheed Minar, demanding changes to service conditions.

The Daily Star has seen at least 10 letters from the chiefs of different PBSs to their superiors, stating that operations of power distribution may suffer during the holidays due to the lack of manpower.

"Most staffers from seven sub-zonal offices, 18 complaint centres, and 11 substations in Sunamganj have joined the Shaheed Minar demonstration, leaving only three to four linemen per office," wrote Milan Kumar Kundu, general manager of the Sunamganj Zonal Office, to a director of Bangladesh Power Development Board, which oversees the PBSs.

"It's becoming extremely difficult to keep substations running, respond to complaints, or maintain power lines with such limited manpower," he wrote.

Protesters under the banner of Bangladesh Palli Bidyut Association have been demonstrating over the past 15 days to realise their seven-point demand, including the removal of REB chairman, a unified service rule, withdrawal of cases filed by REB against dismissed employees, and their reinstatement.

Since the demonstrations started on May 21, various PBSs have been trying to carry out the linemen's work with day-to-day basis staffers.

According to GM Milan, the workers are also rushing for their holidays.

Customer dissatisfaction over power supply has been visible for several days, he said, adding that the staffers who live in the PBS complex are feeling insecurity and they sought help from law enforcers.

General managers from zonal offices in Rangpur, Manikganj, Jashore, Chattogram, and Sylhet said that they were also facing a manpower shortage, raising concerns about potential power service breakdown.

After a meeting with Power Division officials yesterday, the Palli Bidyut Association in a statement said their protest would continue until their seven-point demand is met.

Meanwhile, the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) yesterday called for a unified service rule for PBSs and REB to resolve the crisis.

The government is aggravating the issue by following advice from the World Bank and ADB without addressing the real problems, it said.

CAB Energy Adviser M Shamsul Alam said, "The root cause is the inequality and discrimination between REB and PBS staff."

Criticising the government's failure in resolving the issue, he said that commercialisation of rural electricity supply would not help solve the core problem.