COUNCIL of Common Interests (CCI) that met last month has reportedly approved the restructuring of WAPDAwith the decision that its Chairman will be appointed through rotation from all the provinces with no executive powers but will be bound to oversee policy formulations. At the same time, the federal government will appoint WAPDA’s CEO and relevant professional staff with executive powers to run the Authority. It is really heartening to note that the government is finally moving towards bringing reforms and improvement in important departments such as WAPDA which for long has seriously been witnessing financial crisis due to negligence of successive governments and because of which it failed to focus its efforts on vital but neglected field of hydro-electric generation. The process of restructuring needs to be completed at the earliest but with utmost care in order to avoid any clash of powers within the institution. As the government’s plan envisages appointment of both Chairman and the CEO, therefore, the powers of both the offices need to be unambiguously articulated besides it must be ensured that only truly professionals occupy the two very important seats without any political consideration. Cronies should not be appointed on such important seats as this will only lead to further deterioration of matters in the institution. Merit also needs to be ensured in the appointment of CEOs in DISCOS and they should be given time specific targets to reduce the line losses and power pilferage. The restructuring plan should address inherent inefficiencies of its systems. The post restructuring scenario should see the organization coming up with a long-term plan to exploit the true hydro-electric generation potential of the country which in fact will play a major role in the future economic development of the country. Harnessing our vast hydel generation potential will not only help us meet water shortage but also help produce cheap electricity -the availability of which will greatly help uplift our industrial and agriculture sectors.
