Minister reviews performance of RESCOs

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, DEC. 12. You reap as you sow, so goes the adage. And Kuppam in Chittoor district and Rayachoti in Cuddapah, reinforce this ancient wisdom once again.

At a videoconference on the performance of Rural Electricity Cooperative Societies (RESCOs) here on Tuesday held by the Minister for Cooperation, Mr.Ch. Ramachandra Rao, the Kuppam RESCO proved why it was into profits whereas the Rayachoti RESCO established the reasons for its failure in doing so.

Innovative measures, committed officialdom and cooperative people are the key factors in Kuppam's success in running the RESCO.

According to RESCO officials of Kuppam, their first major step towards success was insuring the transformers. Each of the 1,290 transformers was insured at Rs. 600 premium in view of burning away of transformers. This has led to a position wherein for a payment of Rs. 6 lakhs premium per annum the RESCO was claiming about Rs. 12 lakhs as at least 150 transformers were getting burnt annually.

Secondly, the officials introduced, albeit with the cooperation of the consumers, 'shramadanam' in installing new transformers. It is up to the consumers to pick up the transformers, dig pits and lay poles and cables under the guidance of officials. This was also saving a lot of money, the Minister was told prompting him to direct other RESCOs to follow suit in both the examples.

The Kuppam RESCO is also going in for capacitors for all loads and energy audit meters. Strict vigilance and counselling has brought down power theft to nil and 188 cases had been booked till October 30 There were no more theft cases, the officials told the Minister. All these measures had resulted in a profit of Rs. 2.17 crores.

The RESCO has gone one step further and has established a polytechnic college too students of which could be of help to the RESCO in future.

Contrast this with the performance of Rayachoti - 25 per cent transformers are burning away and the transmission losses are around 26 per cent. It has the highest number of staff at 172 and also the highest arrears dues of Rs. 10.6 crores. The basic reason seems to be village feuds.

The officials admitted that only 20 committees could be formed in 109 villages due to squabbles among the villagers. Hence, meetings could not be held, recovery was a problem and arrears are mounting.

The Minister was a witness to the differences among RESCO and Transco officials of Kadiri East and West. They brought out a new reason for the failure of transformers. The neutral conductor wires supplied by the erstwhile electricity board were used for giving regular agricultural connections.

The dispute over pending dues between the two corporations has created an uneasy atmosphere for the officials with each blaming the other for the pendency. Supply of 25 KV transformers was also another reason for about 28 per cent transmission losses, they said.

The Minister directed the officials to bring down transmission losses and complete the pending audit. The Atmakur RESCO was advised to bring down its losses specifically as they were high. There was a scope for improvement, the Minister said and holding of consumer meets was necessary to improve performance. The burning of transformers must come down to at least 10 per cent, he said.

The total recovery dues of the RESCOs was Rs.49.97 crores and they must be recovered at the earliest, he said.

Mr.D. Sreenivasulu, registrar of Cooperative Societies, pulled up the officials for not completing audit work.

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