Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission has approved the power board’s proposal to recruit 1,602 Bijli Upbhokta Mitra on an outsourced basis through the State Electronics Corporation, even as over 3,000 technical posts remain vacant in the department.
The commission’s approval came after reviewing the board’s submission that highlighted acute shortages of field-level technical staff, which could impact consumer services and power supply quality. The consumer assistants will be hired on a monthly honorarium of ₹10,000.
Board management informed the commission that the department is currently rationalizing its workforce, with several posts declared surplus and unlikely to be filled. In this context, consumer assistants are needed to provide timely services, improve supply reliability, and fulfill service obligations.
The consumer assistants will primarily function as a quick service bridge between consumers and the department at the field level. Their responsibilities include assisting with billing and meter reading, supporting minor consumer tasks, helping field staff in quick complaint resolution, collecting and reporting power supply interruptions, and improving communication and transparency with consumers.
The deployment is expected to address staff shortages in rural and remote areas, expediting complaint resolution for consumers across the state.
Opposition questions employment model
Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur accused the state government of betraying youth, questioning why the positions are not permanent, pensionable jobs. He pointed to the Congress party’s pre-election guarantee of one lakh government jobs in the first cabinet and five lakh employment opportunities.
“The government is toying with the future of youth by giving them nominal honorarium under the guise of the ‘Mitra’ scheme, while people close to the Chief Minister are being provided all kinds of facilities,” Thakur alleged. He questioned why employment under the Mitra scheme does not offer 58-year pensionable permanent jobs as promised before elections.
Thakur charged that the government is neither conducting regular recruitments nor providing respectable employment to youth, instead emphasizing outsourced jobs.
