CHAPTER3

KERALA STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD::

AN INTRODUCTION
Tins chapter attempts to present the organisational hierarchy and- distribution_
of engineers in the Kerala State- Electricity Board (K.S.E.B-.}. K.S.E.B. is the
counterpart of the Electricity Boards: in various states of India. Poor power qua1ity,
power shortages. and worsening fmancial situation are the major problems faced by
the State Electricity Boards (SEBs) in India.. Reforms in the power sector in_ India
were initiated with the aim to 'overcome the immediate. crisis- of low tariff and theft!T
and D loss' 1 and thus to improve the financial: condition of SEBs but are not aimed to
'ensure effective social control or efficiency of the power sector in the long tenn'
through transparency and public accountability (Dixit, Sant and Wagle, 1998:944).

The Indian Electricity Supply Act (1948} clearly mentions that the SEBs are to
be treated as semi-autonomous bodies, quasi-commercial in their functioning. SEBs
are required to earn_ a 3 per cent rate of return on net fixed assets and State
governments are given the- power to- make appointmeNts to· the senior management
positions. In effect SEBs are under the direct ownership, control and regulation of
state govemments for their performance as' generators, transmitters- and distributors of
electricity., CentraL Electricity Authority (CEA} and Power Finance Corporation (PFC)
are the other two authorities with the power to enforce· tariff policies~

Kerala State Electricity Board (K.S·.E.B.} is a statutory body set up· as per
section 5(1_) of the Electricity (Supply} Act 1948 on_ lst Aprill957 as successor to the
Electricity Department of Kerala State; K.S.E.B. involves itself in activities connected
with (1) Power Generation (2) Transmission of power- and (3) Distribution of
electricity. This task is carries out through the two technical wings under it-the
electrical wing and the civil wing. Headquarter of the K.S.E.B. is VydyuthiBhavan,
Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram. K.S.E.B 's: functions: are organized under three technical
divisions namely, Generation Profit Centre~ Transmission Centre ana Distribution

T and D loss. refers to, the. loss of the: electricity· in· the: process of transmission and· distribution,
Substantial· part of it is estimated to- be· the· result of illegal connections.

50
 Centre;. after_- the: :refurms: were: initiated in 199K. K.S.RB.. has been_ partially
restructured as per the World Bank prompted reforms- as. in the case of other SEBs.
However;. implementation of the privatization has been' selective and mainly in the
creation of new departments, like· that of reforms: a_nd~ pri:Vatization of some po\ver
projects.

OrganisationaL Hierarchy

K.S.E.B.. has: two, types: of staff.:._ technical and support staf£2 . TecfmicaL staff
consists: mainly of engineers- and lower level' field empl'oyees .. Graduate· and diploma
holders- are the engineers. CJericai employees: and, Class;..4 workers constitute the
support staff._ Approximate· number of employees working: ii1 K.S.E.B is 26,000 of
which_2~465- areengineers(Table J.t) ..

Figure'-3~1 Organisational' Hierarchy of Graduate' Engineers.

Chairman

t
Members

Deputy Chief Engineers

(46)

Executive Engineers
(178)

Assistant Executive Engineers

(652)

Assistant Engineers
(1578)

# Numbers. in: the- parentJieses refer.to tlte· number.· of, engineers; in each designation~

Technical. details about the: functioning of K.S.E.B.. are· given, in Appendix 2~

2

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 l

Figure J.l represents the hierarchy of engineers, ill< the organisation.. It is: in the
shape· ofa pyramid with a swelling bottom. and a sharp, top;. Assistant Engineers~. (A. E.)
are at the bottom of the: hierarchy of' the graduate· engineers .. AE are~ _l)romoted to' the·
position of Assistant Executive Engineers QA.E.E. )'after- c0:nsidering the: total• number
of vacancies at: the. level of AE.E .. The same policy is. full'owedi till( the post of C.E
except in the case ofSC/ST candi'dates~. GeneraRy onLy senimity gamed tfuough_ the·
merit list at the· entry level' is; considered fotr the· a_IJIDointments: Members; off' the Boardl
are selected, from the· ClJiefEi1gineers; after- c0nsidening the· experience· and ability of
the person. There are three posts; of Technica1 Members~ one: each; for Generation~

Transmission and Distribution Profit Centres~-

It is the A.E. who is: in direct control of the· fieltt staff in aU the· three centres
and her/his otl-ice is called the 'Section: within. K.S,E.B.. A.E.E.. is: albove the 'section'
office and this office is. called 'Majoc Section{.. EK'-s office· comes: iit. the· supervising
capacity and. is. known as 'Division:' office: .D~C.E controls: the· higher- position next to
it and the office is: known as 'Circle' .. In the corporate office the staff does: not get
classified like tllis- but are given-' tasks: according to: thell:· designations:.

Table 3.1 presents the· distribution~ of engineers across designations: in the year
20003 . Assistant Engineer (A.E), Assistant executive· Engii1eer· (A.E.E)~ Executive
Engineer (E.E), Deputy Chi'ef Engineer· (D.C.E): and Chief Engii1eer (C.E); in-. the
ascending order; are· the· desi:gnations: of Graduate· Engineers: in' K.S:.E.B. There are
1578 A.Es ofwhom 1228 are· men and J50· are· women. This; is the' designation which
has the llighest number of engineers employed'.. Highest number of women (350) is
employed in this category. As one· goes. up the· llierarcliy,. number. of positions
decreases and the structure of hierarchy appear-like a pyramid. In the designation as
A.E.E, a total of 652. engineers: are· employed·.. 531' of tllem are· men and 121 are
women.

This. was. the latest data; aYailabJe. w.itl11the: Management Infonnatiom systems.~MIS); KS,E.B..

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 As, can be: seen in table 3.1,- majority of women engineers (71 per cent) are in
the-junior most designation of Assistant Engineers. There are very few women in the
middle level designation ofExecuti:ve Engineers. There' was only one woman Chief
Engineer. There were 5 women Deputy Chief Engineers. Representation is better (25
per cent} at the Assistant Executive Engineers. level m comparison_ to the designations
ofE.E., D.C.E. andC.E.

Table3d: Distribution of-Engineers across Designations#~

Office Grand
Sex C.E D.C.E E.E A.E.E *A.E
Category Total

Male 7 21 37 74 45 184
Corporate
Office Female l 4 7 58 60 130
I
Total 8 25 44 132 105 314
Male 2 5 51 255 483 796
Distribution Female -- -- 6 38 143 187
Total 2 5 57 293 626 983
Male -- 7 22 63 199 291
Generation Female -- -- -- 6 22 28
Total -- 7 22 69 221 319
Male l -- 3 25 21 50
Not in Active
Service$ Female -- -- -- 5 9 14
Total 1 -- 3 30 30 64
Male -- 8 51 114 480 653
Transmission Female -- 1 1 14 116 132
Total -- 9 52 128 596 785
Male 10 41 164 531 1228 1974
Grand Total- Female 1 5 14 121 350 491
Total II 46 178 652 I578 2465
Source: ManagementlnformationSystems (MIS); K.SE.B.
*A.E.E (N.C.) is also' taken as part of A.E.
#The numbers given-above are according to the designations in2000.

53
 l

$ Thjs category constitutes those.· who• are· on; medicaU or· e:-...1:ra~ ordinary leave:. 'fliose, w.ho: are: under·
suspension or under vigilance· inquicy also• are: included! in: this group•

An analysis of the distribution: of engineers~ iiT. K.S.ER.. across office

categories shows that a· substantial proportium ofwomeru are iru corporate· otrice· which
is housed in the headquarter at 'Fhiru:v.ananthapuram.. This; is; th:e· l3tgest eoncentration
of women in one single- office;_ An important feature; as; observed{ d'uring the: study, of
the employment of women, engineets: iru K.$ER.. is: their· presence· iill the· offices in.
large numbers .. As. a result; there are' very few women. wfu.n, are int the' tlefd4'Cinter.view;
personnel officers:: 2001)? .. This' diswibution ef wemen acress' effi-ees; an<!ll fiel'd; en the·
one hand and offices of\ various. profit centres; is; done: informally. The· disproportionate·
distribution. across. offices of the various:. office· categories; is; the· result: ofwmnen being
appointed less irr the rural areas. Representatives· of management as: welli as: s01ne· ot~
the engineers in the· study explain this; as the· result. of women's; reluctance to- serve· in
the rural, remote· areas. Some engineers are critical· that the management is not ready
to employ women ilt.the field (interview, engineers:: 200l}. WhateYer the reasons, it is
very clear that there has; always been: an. infom1al: policy foH'owed by K.S'.E.B .. that
women are not sent to the fi-eld (interview, engineers:200;1~2003;~ personnel officers:
2001; 2003).

While headquarter is overcrowded with engineers: many posts in remote· areas

(eg: ldukki generation office) are· vacant (interview., engineers~: 20m:)~ As: this. does not
affect the promotions there is no fonnal assessment of skills; one acquires; due to· the
work i1i the field.. Moreover an. informal hierarchy- exists: among· the posts: at the
horizontal level depending upon the 'perceived' dependence· ofthe organization on
the tasks of every post.. Thus Chief Engineer (C.E.): (Reforms} may be· considered. as
less important than C.E .. (Tariff}. A detailed• discussion on• these· aspects. of women's
skill formation: and utilization and 'horiZontaf hierarchies' are· given: in Chapter-6 •.

The three· Teclmical Members are also• Graduate· Engineers. AH the three are
men. The post of TechnicaL Member requires expertise: on technical knowledge and
administrative: ability .. Since: s/he: is. the: highest authority of<l! pnofit. centre;. s/he· often

4
The· researchec· also, observed: thjs. before: the: futerv.iew· took: place· with1 th:e, personnel! otiicers.
5
Please see Appendix: t for: details.: of referencing~.

54
 l

represents the- profit centre in government meetings. However there- were incidents
when non.-tecbnical, administrative personnel were made members of the centres. At
present, all the three members are- engineers. Chairmanship is also- a selection post and
s/he is the ultilnate authority. Often an administrator from the: state service is
appointed as~ chairman though engineers. also' became chairman in the past. At present,
an, IAS officer heads the: board.. It is a- matter of complaint too,_ Most of the engineers
whom the researcher interviewed feel that an engineer is the ideaL person to become
the chairman of the board. They resent what they consider as. government's ' over
interference' in the· functioning of the- Board.

It is veey unfortunate though interesting for a researcher on gender that no

woman has ever- become. the Member or Chairperson of the Board. There was a very
striking case where a woman C.E .. was not chosen. for the post of Member but a male
colleague who wao; in the same C.E. post was appointed. In another instance, five-
seniors were ignored and sixth person (junior most of aU the six persons) was
appointed as Member. Only one of the five seniors was- a woman.

Recruitment and Promotions

Engineers are recruited to the post of Assistant Engineer6 through Kerala

Public Service Commission (K.P.S.C). This is in_ accordance with the- state
government rules. Based on the number of vacancies in the post of Assistant
Engineers the advertisement is given in the newspapers. There are two stages in the
selection procedure. Appointments to A.E. are made from the final rank list prepared
by K.P .S.C. based orr a written: test and interview; Candidates. who: are: short- listed on
the basis of the marks of the written test are called for an interview. It was after 1967
that K.S.E.B. started its selection procedure through KPSC. Prior to that there were no
tests but the candidates who passed out from the Engineering Colleges every year

6
At present; it is- to the post of Assistant Engineer- that the- appointment is-- made;. except in. the cases
of Special- Recruitments for S.Cs and s, Ts. It was- known· as the office- of. Junior Engineer that has
been renamed A.E. after 1978.

55
were asked to report to· the- K.S..EH.. headquatrt:er: After- a nolilinrui imeJIView by- B0ard
Management, they were given appointment without much delay.

In accordance· with the- existing policy, po-sts are- reserved in the- case of
K.S.E.B. recruitments too. S.C.~ S.T,_ O.B.C._ and sports: persons are the groups: that
benefit from the reservation_ policy.. Apart fr0IIJ;- the: entFy-levell rese:r;_vations: for_- S.C.
(15 percent), S.T. (7.5 percent)- and O.B.C. (27.5 percent) categories, there is special
direct recruitment to the posts. reserve& for S.C.. an& S.T. If tl'le: required mnnber of
vacancies in A.E., A.E.E.,_ E.E or D'.C.E is: not filled',- K.P'.S.C._ advertises for- special
recruitment. If eligible candidates. are- found from, among_ these- communities,
recruitments: are- made; SpeciaE recruitment drive is: possible- tilE the- levell of Deputy
Chief Engineer: Thus~- a person: (SC/S1} can apply directly. for any of the reserved
posts advertised by the K.P $C. without coming through the regular promotions as in
the case of generaL candidates, provided s/he fulfills all other requirements._ There is
no special policy of recruitment for women engineers. Women from SC~ ST and OBC
are recruited against their respective reservation of seats.

Promotions of engineers. to· higher-positions- depend orr the vacancies available

in the senior posts: The major criterion for-the promotion is: seniority in K.S.E.B. that
is based_ on rank at the entry leveL According to' the rule, 'C0nfidentiali Report' (C.R.)
given by the ii1m1ediate superior officer is to be- taken ii1to account before promotions
are granted. This C.R.. along with_ seniority decides; the promotions~. However in_ actual
practice C.R. is only a formality (interview, engineers~ 2001} "It is like the· 'c0nduct
certificate' one gets from the school" (Susanna D-.C.E/W-04} At present seniority is
the sole criterion based on which the promotions; are made~ AU the· respondents; in my
study agreed that the: present system of evaluation i$ not g0od~ as- it: does· not take- into
account performance~ Representatives of the: management also. voiced the same view
(interview, personnel officers: 2001}

" ... many of the officers....holding offices. of D;CE., C.E and.... why ...
even, member would• not have beenc there ifperfonnance- was evaluated for
promotions. At the: same time.. ·- there is. this- danger- that perfonJlance

7
Recently there• have• been• cases. when• the- final• list ofcandidates was cancel red~ after appointments ofa
few candidates. Some. of these: cases will be: mentioned in: the: intewiews.with the respondents,.

56
 evaluation; is; very suojective ... fn tlie: present politiCal: cliinate~ ..this is. the
best:. .. superior officers· who· have to do• the perfonnance· evaluation may
use it (for settling personaE scores y ... Since: nobody could\ give: a: foolproof
alternative ... the present evaluation: with. all its flaws. is- tlie best suitable
method considering the politiCal: and soci~tl! values: of the system."
(Lakshmidevi RtdJ): C.E/W:--27):
Ffowever;. m~fority of the respondents do: n0t appr0:ve of a~ change m the
existing: selection procedure for various. reasons. like feali of favouritism, political
inteuference and: so. on.

" ... (Since} seniority list cannot be manipulated ... women are able to get
better ranks ... tl1ey are not discril:ninated against me1r. .. Lack of
experience·ofwomem engineers- iir• generation and: distribution ... will give
an excuse for- the management and: male colleagues: to· labeli (women) as
less committed and less efficient workers•.. " tSusamm D£.E/w:.o4}

One lady engineer who is politically- very- actiV,e· said that there is an
ideological side· to• the above question which, she· said~. is not aR issue in her party at
the moment.

". .. Performance evaluation: is not ... Uust) a matter of superior

discriininating: his/heTI immediate· subordinate·... rather· it's: tl1e weapon· of
the capitalists whidr tl1ey use against their- employees .. It is operating in: the
Multii National' Companies at present to exploit the workers .... it is not
acceptable to my party and me." (SaranakumariA.E.E/W-30)~.

However she says ifthe present system changes. an& when workers also have a
say in their promotions, performance based promotion can be· considered ..

Gender Concerns

Women like other engmeers too are members of unions and professional
organizations~ However, participation_ of women, is very nominal in union and
organization activities. (interviews, engineers:200 1; chie£ personnel officer:200 1).
Problems of transfer and other such concerns are remedied! through the w1ions, though
fonnally unions do not have any- role in the redress: ofgrievances: in K.S.E.B.

KSEB Working Women's CoordinationCommittee;~KSEBWWCC) under the

broad leadership and guidance· of All India Coordination Committee· of Working
Women used to· act like an_ agency- for the redress. of wamern's: pmblems. in KSEB.
KSEB WWCC used to help the victim to' lodge complaints: tai the higher- authorities.

57
There was limitation in its functions as the redress mechanism was purely a process
within the organisation.

A Complaint Committee m the Board to deal with complaints of sexual

harassment was set up as per the direction of Kerala Government. This was m
compliance with the Supreme Court Judgment in 1997. This. committee. came to
existence as per the order of the Board on 27.02.2001. Delay in the constitution of
such a Committee even after Supreme Court Judgment appears to· show the lack of
urgency in the matter of both the State Government and the KSEB (interview,
engineers: 2001). This Complaints Committee as it is called has five members; four of
them including the chairperson in the present committee are women. Three of them
are engineers and two are members of non-technical staff. It is to be noted that the
order of the Board on the constitution of the· committee does not contain the definition
of sexual harassment and the power of the committee.

When the interviews for this study had started, there was no chairperson as the
first chairperson of the committee retired. Even after repeated requests from the other
members the next chairperson was appointed only on 30.06.2001. The Board
constituted the committee and no definite criterion of selection was described.
However all the members were known as active, articulate and vocal and in general
there were no complaints about the efficiency of the· members.

Interviews with the Committee members and Chairperson made it clear that
many of them do not expect much to come out of the committee. However it is only
the Chairperson who explicitly expressed her disappointment over such procedures.
She said she did not believe in any of these committees. Reasons for her such an
attitude as given by her are (l} There is no political freedom. Everything gets
influenced politically in Kerala and (2) "All these bad things happen to some women
due to their lack of faith in God. When you come out of your home everyday in the
morning, you should pray (a) that you should not be in any kind of problems, (b) that
you should not be subjected to any kind of experiments and temptations" (Aleyarnma
C.E/W-42). 8

She resents the fact that she was ignored earlier when the Board appointed the first Chairperson.

58
 While aU women engineers: said that there· are· cases: of unwelcome behaviour
within KSEB they were unanimous in their opinion that it never amounts to a serious
sexual harassment incident withinc the organisation. All agreed that the issue is very
serious in public places. and buses. Even middle-aged women with strong physique
are molested in the· buses during their everyday journey to workplaces. It was very
clear that subtle cases of harassment are taken as 'normal' affair and in a resigned
manner (interview,. engineers:: 2001;· 2008}. That is; probably the reason why sexually
abusive phone· calls-. even to. senior women engineers are dismissed by them and others
as "the handiwork of some '-pervert' men". One of the members herself had an
experience of tl1e same in the office and she had heard about such incidents from
some senior women in K.S.E.B.

"What is done ... at the most .. in such- situations is- to-discuss the problem
with ... (some) women colleagues ... and then forget it ... (or) pretend to
have forgotten about it." (Susanna Koshy D.C.E/W~04)

Women- do not consider it necessary to complain about these incidents di.te to

two reasons as emerged: from the interviews with the respondents~ M·ost importantly.
the fear of reputation tlmt can be caused by the publicity in tl1e event of tl1em filing a
complaint makes them withdraw .. Secondly almost all of tl1em believe that there \\ill
not be any result coming out of such a complaint. All of them have some precedence
to quote to strengthen their argument.

Conclusions

As is seen in this chapter, K.S.E.B. is. a workplace where recruitments and

promotions base themselves on contemporary industrial laws. and principles of equal
opportunity, with. room for positive discrimination .. K.S.E.B. as a part of the Indian
power sector and the sole organization responsible for the production and supply of
electricity is involved. in a number of complex technical activities. To facilitate its
functioning through effective operation of tasks, a number of offices exist across
Kerala. The technical tasks are under the execution and supervision of engineers who
are posted in the field offices of K.S.E.B .. Those who are not in direct contact with the
field staff and customers are mainly in charge of the administrative matters. There is

59
an informal hierarchy even at the horizontal level depending on the perceived
importance of one's designation in K.S.E.B.

As we have seen, women are concentrated mainly in the corporate office

in headquarter- and the offices that are- engaged in administrative functions and
do- not involve, in: tasks- that require- engineering skills and technical know-how.
Women_ are seen_ to be clustered in_ the offices,_ especially in_ headquarter.
Informally K.S.E.B has been following a policy that results in uneven
participation of women engineers in the field. Interviews with employers
suggested that women are seen as 'unable to handle the pressures of field jobs'
due to their traditi-onal roles as wives and- mothers and- social limitations of
mobility. This would be explored in detail in a subsequent section. Th~

discussion in the next chapter introduces the sample and analyses their socio-
economic background in brief

60