PESHAWAR: In a move largely seen as regressive, the provincial government has legislated to turn the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation, a company, into an attached entity of the energy and power department.

The development comes through the passage of the Pedo Act, 2020, in the provincial assembly on Dec 2.

The law was earlier enforced through an ordinance in a secret manner in June this year when the outbreak of coronavirus peaked in the province.

The legislation has upended the Pedo’s corporatisation that was carried out by the last Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government as a major reform.

The government had gone to great lengths to retain the entity’s chief executive officer after his removal by the court.

CM aide says hybrid model promises speedy decision-making

Adviser to the chief minister on energy Himayatullah Khan denied change in the energy company’s status and said the government had adopted a hybrid model, which was followed by Wapda and Security and Exchange of Commission of Pakistan, as the existing system failed to deliver the goods.

Section 3 of the Act provides for the re-organisation of the Pedo and says soon after the promulgation of the law, the Pedo will be re-organised.

The legislation has done away with the Pedo’s 13-strong board of directors, which was vested with powers, functions and management of the organisation.

Under the new legislation, in place of BoD, there will be a policy board to be headed by the chief minister and executive committee headed by the Pedo CEO.

Powers and functions of the organisation will now be vested with the executive board to be formed under Section 7 of the Act.

Unlike the previous setup, where the board was led by an independent chairman, the executive committee will be headed by the Pedo chief executive, whose office has the entity’s both administrative and management control.

The executive committee, in contrast to the BoD’s seven private members, will comprise the Pedo staff members and an additional secretary of the energy and power department.

On the other hand, the policy board to be headed by the chief minister will set guidelines for the Pedo. The nine-member board will have only two private members. Majority of the members will come from the government side.

The legislation has also done away with the energy apex committee, which was formed in 2014 to provide policy guidelines to the board of directors.

Section 12 of the Act declares, “executive committee may appoint employees on regular basis, hire, engage consultants, lawyers, experts, professionals, advisors, agents, accountants, bankers, engineers and such other staff as may be required.”

According to Section 27 of the law, Pedo staff members will be government employees.

Mr Himayatullah said within first month of formation, the policy board had held at least five meetings.

“We are holding meetings every week,” he said.

The chief minister’s aide also claimed that usually, private members of the board, who had no stakes in the organisation, were indifferent towards the entity but it would not be the case in future.

He said the new model besides promising speedy decision-making also included functions handed over to the province by the centre after the enactment of the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

Mr Himayatullah said the new law, which had also covered the transmission and dispatch of electricity and other structural issues, would go a long way in the promotion of the energy sector in the province.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2020