(From left) Vinayak Chandra Gupta, Ajay Nayak and PK Rai at the news meet in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, July 28: A day after chief minister Nitish Kumar assured employees of the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) that there is no threat to their services, the energy department today said that the restructuring of the board would be completed within three months, if everything goes according to schedule.

To dispel the fear of a lay-off, Nitish had said on Wednesday that there would not be any change in the service conditions of the engineers and employees of the board even if it was restructured and divided in to five companies.

Speaking to reporters today, energy department’s principal secretary Ajay Nayak said: “If everything goes according to schedule, the restructuring of the board will be completed in three months’ time. The department has sent the proposal to the cabinet for consideration and in all probability, the matter will be put up in the next cabinet meeting.”

Board chairman P.K. Rai said BSEB, whose current strength is 10,746, would recruit another 10,000 employees in all categories in phases over the period of three years. The board, for the first time, would recruit about 273 junior engineers and 117 assistant engineers through campus selection, besides recruiting 250 junior account clerk, Rai said, adding that 400 junior linesmen have to be recruited in the coming few months.

Asked about the fate of the board’s decision to appoint franchisee for 11KV feeders and distribution franchisees in four cities, including Patna, board chairman said that there would not be any impact on any of the projects undertaken by the board.

Explaining the benefits of restructuring plan, board member (finance) Vinayak Chandra Gupta said: “Restructuring would bring efficiency as each transmission, distribution and generation companies would focus on their job and bring in more competition which would ultimately be beneficial to consumers.”