The State Administrative Council headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik has finalised the appointment of two members of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) to revive the regulatory body that has been lying defunct for the past two years.
An official told the Greater Kashmir that the SAC has cleared the appointment of Muhammad Rafiq Andrabi, director general, codes, finance department and Shamsher Singh Manhas, executive director, Engineers India limited, as members of the SERC following the recommendations of a search committee headed by the state’s chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam.
“The search committee had put up the proposal before the SAC after short-listing the probables to fill up the vacant positions,” the official said.
Other members of the search committee were commissioner/secretary, power development department Hirdesh Kumar, former law secretary Abdul Majid Bhat and a member of the central electricity regulatory commission, M K Iyer.
The search committee, according to the official, has however decided to start the process for appointment of the SERC chairman afresh after concluding that “those in the panel were not found suitable for the assignment due to varied reasons”.
Financial commissioner, housing and urban development department KB Aggarwal; financial commissioner Revenue Lokesh Jha; former administrative secretary rural development department Nirmal Sharma; former divisional commissioner Jammu Hemant Sharma and former secretary, horticulture department M Hussain Malik were in the fray for the position of SERC chairman.
When contacted, governor’s advisor Kewal Kumar Sharma said the appointment of two SERC members “is at the advanced stage. We have taken necessary steps to make the regulatory body functional.”
The SERC is completely defunct since December 31, 2016 when Basharat Ahmad Dhar completed his term as its head. Before him, two members of the regulatory body had already completed their terms.
The SERC was established in 2000 by the state legislature to rationalise electricity tariffs, ensure transparent policies regarding subsidies and promote efficient and environmental-friendly policies and matters.