CHAPTER- III
PROFILE OF THE ELECTRIC SOCIETY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Importance of Shrirampur and Rahuri Talukas 3 3 Geographical Situation and Weather of Shrirainpur and Rahuri Talukas
3.4 Sources of Irrigation
3.5 Profile of the Electric Society
3.6 Business of the Electric Society
3.7 The MSEB tariff for the Electric Society CHAPTER- III
PROFILE OF THE ELECTRIC SOCIETY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The Electric Society is located in Shrirampur, and it is a place of Taluka Headquarters. As already stated its area of operation covers 75 villages of Shrirampur taluka, 82 villages of Rahuri taluka and 5 and 4 villages respectively of
Sangamaner and Newasa talukas. It is appropriate at this stage, therefore, to explain briefly about the agro-climatic conditions as obtained in the area of operation of the
Electric Society.
.2 IMPORTANCE OF SHRIRAMPUR AND RAHURI TALUKAS
Shrirampur and Rahuri Talukas occupy an important place in Ahmednagar District. Both these talukas are well developed in agriculture on account of irrigation facility and hardworking and innovative agriculturists. Sugarcane is the main cash-crop of both the talukas. There are five sugar- factories working in the area of operation of the Electric
Society. Four of the sugar factories are located in
Shrirampur Taluka, and one of them is located in Rahuri Taluka. Out of the four sugar factories in the Shrirampur Taluka, two in the Private sector. Both the private sugar- factories are closed now. Pravara co-operative sugajxfactory, the oldest co-operative sugar factory in sVcw state of 43
Maharashtra, is located at Pravaranagar, which is about 15 kms away from the Shrirampur, Taluka Headquarters. Asok co operative sugar factory is located at about 4 kms. away from Shrirampur. Rahuri Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana, established in 1956, is located at a disatance of about 6 kms. from Rahuri, the Taluka Headquarters. Both Pravara and Rahuri co-operative sugar factories are treated to be big factories on the basis of their crushing capacity. They are also treated as well- managed factories. The existence of these as well as other sugar co-operative factories in the District has provided eminence to Shrirampur. This is further enhanced by the fact of the existence of the railway station facility at Shrirampur (Belapur). This has made Shrirampur as importantm«Crket place for sugar. Rahuri is important for one more reason. One of the four Agriculture Universities in the state of Maharashtra, i.e., Mahatma Phule Agriculture University is located at
Rahuri. Composite college imparting education upto Degree level in the faculties of Arts, Science and commerce is also located at Rahuri. Shrirampur Taluka has dufferent types of educational institutions. In addition to the Arts, Science and commerce colleges, Medical college, Engineering college, Dental Surgery, Pharmacy college etc. have been established at Loni, (shrirampur Taluka). Post-graduate and engineering studies in agriculture may be pursued at Mahatma Phule 44
Agriculture University, Rahuri. Eastern part of Shrirampur town has accomadated various industries in small scale sector. The MIDC has recently started a new industrial estate at Shrirampur. All these developments were possible because of the solid ^foundation laid by the agriculturist community in this art 3 GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION AND WEATHER OF SHRIRAMPUR
RAHURI TALUKAS
Both the talukas receive rain in the range of 15 to 20
inches every year. Most of the time the distribution of rain
is found to be very uneven. Dry weather is obtained in both the talukas. Weather obtained is neither very hot nor very cool. The geographical area in Shrirampur Taluka is about
87120 hectares. Out of which about 52,470 hectares of land is under irrigation. The geographical area in Rahuri Taluka is about 1,01,778 hectares, out of which about 31,900 hectares of land is under irrigation. Both these talukas enjoy the benefit of plain & fertile
land. For this reason agriculturists of this area have irrigated their land through canals, lift irrigation, wells, etc. Agriculturists of both talukas take cash crops, such as sugar-cane, cotton, grapes, pomogranates, and other vegetables regularly. 45
3.4 SOURCES OF IRRIGATION
Godavari and Bhima are the Major rivers of the
Ahrnednagar district. The Pravara is a tributary of Godavari.
Mula, Adhala and Mahalungi are the important tributaries of Pravara. Godavari passes through the Kopargaon taluka and afterwords, along the border of Shrirampur, Newasa, Shevgaon Talukas. Pravara, Originates in Akola taluka and passes through Sangamner, Shrirampur, Rahuri and Newasa talukas.
Mula river covers Akola, Sangamner, Parner and Rahuri talukas. Mula and Pravara rivers cover major part of Shrirampur and Rahuri talukas and the same area is covered by the Electric Society. Hence the Electric Society is named as
Mula-Pravara Electric Corporative Society. Bhandardara Dam was constructed in 1925 on Pravara river at Akola, Mula Dam was constructed on the Mula river at Baragaon Nandur, in Rahuri Taluka . The water of Bhandardara dam has benefited Shrirampur taluka. Out of the total capacity of the project, near about 56% of water is distributed to the Shrirampur Taluka. The left canal of this dam is coming to this Taluka. Near about 15840 hectares of land comes under irrigation because of this facility. There is a provision made at Takalibhan to store tail water-tank, which can irrigate near about 500 hectares of land. Mula dam is very useful to Rahuri Taluka in respect of irrigation. Left canal of this dam is useful 4*3 to this JFaluka at>d irrigates near about 20989 hectares land,
{including lift irrigation, and Musalwadi tank's irrigation).
PROFILE OF THE ELECTRIC SOCIETY a.) Formation of the Hola~Pravara Electric Co-operative
Society
The Electric Society was established by the REC on the recommendation of All India Rural Credit Review Committee in
1969. One of the objectives of the REC was to establish electric-co-operative societies on pilot basis. Accordingly, the REC established one electric co-operative society in each of the following five states in the country.
1. Gujrat
2. Karnataka
3. Uttar Pradesh
4. Andhra Pradesh 5. Maharashtra
The Electric Society was the electric co-operative established in the State of Maharashtra with the help of the REC. Before independence Shrirampur, Rahuri and nearby talukas in Ahmednagar district was known as drought-prone area. In the Third Five Year Plan, more emphasis was given to rural electrification. In 1967 National Rural Electric Co operative Association sent a group of experts for the purpose of studying the potential for forming an electric co-operative 47
Society in Shrirumpur and Rahuri talukas. The expert-group submitted their report to the Rural Electric Co-operative Association. At the same time the Central Government asked the ground water survey department to find out the natural water resources in the above talukas. This department found that a large quantity of ground water would be available in Shrirampur and Rahuri talukas. In order to utilise these natural resources for rural development, provision of electricity was a must. The recommendations of the Expert group and the report of the ground water survey department were considered at the national level. Maharashtra State
Government, the MSEB and the REC took initiative in the formation of the Electric Society, and prepared a plan-layout of the Electric Society's project. After completing all the necessary formalities the Electric Society was registered, on October 2, 1969, under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, i960. After its formation, the Electric Society received a licence for electric distribution from the Government on Jan. 28, 1971, for the period of 20 years. The head office of the Electric Society was at Rahuri (which was later on shifted to Shrirampur) for the purpose of its smooth working, the Electric Societ. established a five divisional offices, and 30 sub-divisional (section offices) offices in area of its operation by the end of March 1988. 48
The Electric Society had taken over the existing assets (mainly electric installations) in its area of operation from the MSEB on the payment of compensation. Book value of the
assets taken over on March 1, 1971 was Rs.193.25 lakhs. The main job of the Electric Society was to provide electric power
to its consumers. The Electric Society was not to generate electricity. Hence it was required to purchase the
electricity needed from the MSEB. In order to provide
electric facility to consumers, the Electric Society
established its own transformer centres, HT and LT lines and
completed the project plan prepared at the time of its
establishment. For the project plan, the REC had sanctioned Rs.443.13 lakhs as a soft loan to the Electric Society. The
1. The main object of the Electric Society shall be to make
electric energy available to its members and others in the area of operation at a reasonable price consistant with sound economy and good management. 2. To extend the electric net work in the area of operation as efficiently as possible.
3. To provide an efficient and effective services to the 41
consumers after taking into account the local
conditions.
4. To undertake a programme of development in the area of
operation thereby increasing agricultural productions
and stimulating the growth of rural industries.
5. To ensure local participation in the management of
distribution of electricity to the rural area. c) Area of Operation
At the time of formation of the Electric Society, the
MSEB handed over the assets worth Rs.193.25 lakhs spread in
166 villages. The Electric Society covers the entire
Shrirampur <75 villages) and Rahuri <82 villages) talukas,
five villages from Sangamner taluka and four villages from
Newasa talukas. The total area of operation of the Electric
Society is 1880 sq. kms.
Map of the Electric Society Showing area of Operation,
is provided in Appendix I to this dissertation.
Details of the assets taken over are given in the
following table. 50
TABLE 3.1 : STATEMENT SHOWING DETAILS OF THE ASSETS HANDED OVER BY THE MSEB TO THE ELECTRIC SOCIETY The Assets Transferred on 1.3.1971.
(1' Villages taken over (No. ) 166 (2) Villages electrified (No. ) 103 (3) Highi Tension lines (HT) {in k. m. ) 480 (4) Low Tension lines (LT) (in k. m. ) 1350 (5) Transformer centres 342 (6) Service Connections : a. Agricultural consumers (No. ) 7759 b. Industrial HT consumers (No. ) 9 c. Industrial LT consumers (No. ) 259 d. Domestic consumers (No. ) 4453 e. Commercial consumers (No. ) 1148 f. Street light provided : Villages 27 Total consumers 13755 Connected electric load (k.w.) 33060
Source : Annual Report 1976-7? of the Electric Society. The Electric Society completed its construction work as per the project plan, sanctioned at the time of its formation, within the stipulated period, i.e., by the end of March 1978. d) Shareholders of The Electric Society
The consumers of the Electric Society became its shareholders. At the time of taking electric service connection, every consumer must pay membership fee, and purchase the shares of the Electric Society as per rules and regulations. Members are classified into four categories. 51
1. Agricultural Member -- "Agricultural member means a
consumer who has been provided a service-connection for agricultural purpose, either HT or LT voltage. 2. Industrial Member - Means a consumer who has been
provided a service connection for industrial purpose, either HT or LT voltage.
3. Residential and Commercial Members - Means the members
who have not been given service connection either for
agriculture or industrial purpose.
4. Nominal Member - Means a person who has not been given
any type of service connection and who is admitted to
the membership as per bye-law No.5 (a) (c) until further
compliances. He shall have no right to vote at any
election of the office bearers"1 e) As per the recommendations of the REC, Maharashtra Government nominated the first Board of Directors, including the representatives of the MSEB and other financing institutions. The first Board consisted of 9 members headed by Shri B.B.Tanpure. This Board worked for a period of more than two years, i.e., from 28/1/1971 to 31/3/19““ (ii) i Subsequent Developments An administrator was appointed on 1/4/1973. The Maharashtra Government appointed another Board of Directors on 52 1/7/1976 who could carry out the Board's function upto 30/8/1979, the Government appointed an Administrative Board of Directors with an administrator who was expected to work as the Electric Society’s Chief Executive. This Administrative Board worked upto 30/7/1982 and with effect from 31/7/1982, the shareholder's elected their representatives who formed a Board of Directors. Shri B.B.Tanpure, M.L.A., was the first elected chairman of the Electric Society. The Board appointed a General Manager for the Electric Society who happened to work as the Chief Executive of the Society and also an Ex- officio Director of the Board. The elected Board consisted of not more than 19 members as per the provisions contained in the society’s bye-laws. The second election which should have taken place in 1987, actually took place in 1989. The Second Board of Directors assumed office in March 1989, and elected Shri Ramdas Patil-Dhumal as their Chairman and Madhukarrao Deshmukh as Vice-chairman. The newly elected Board has taken various important decitions in favourof the consumers and tried to implement sincerely. Some of these decisions include launching innovative schemes like Janata Scheme, Scheme for Economically Weaker Section, financial assistance to consumers of^Sbhedule Caste^1 tribe etc. i) General Manager \ s' The Board of Directors is assisted by a General Manager 53 in the Electric Society. He is an ex-officio Director and also the chief executive of the Electric Society. He is responsible for detailed planning, co-ordination and control of the activities of the Electric Society, as also carrying out the policies and progremme laid down by the Board of Directors. He also looks after general administration of the Electric Society. General Manager should supply all necessary information which is required by the Board. He should submit his reports in the Board meeting, regarding working of the Electric Society and suggest steps for improvement, if any, for the future period. "He is an officer to sue and be sued on behalf of the Electric Society. All the bonds and documents executed in favour of the Society, shall be in his name."'L He shall have power to operate the Bank Account of the Elecj Society^d's authorised by the Board of Directors. Organisation Set up In the Electric Society the members constitute the general body. The general body of the Electric Society elects the Board of Directors who decide the policy matters. The Board of Directors vested with full powers on all policy matters regarding construction programme, operational aspects, payment of staff salary and other administrative matters. A three-tier system of management is followed in the Electric ORGANISATION CHART OF THE ELECTRIC SOCIETY GENERAL BODY BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRMAN & VICE-CHAIRMAN GENERAL MANAGER « Office Suptdi Statasticians lAssistant* lAsslstantr t Chief Accountant ( Otfice ? t (Labour Officer•Board V * s -«ty sAsstt. sAsstt. *Asstt. «Asstt. Head Cleric i t •Secretary! « Divisional •Divisional s Divisional ^utivesEngineertEngineer»Engineer«fi ngineer oan : t t Accountant •Accountant s Accountant n • (Store t ( O St M ) • (gjgilaniConstru- UDC dc : s (Revenue) > (General) s (Audit) t ce) •ction) LDC LDC > Ol Technical Office Assistant t Assistant : Assistant! : Assistant Assistant Accountant Accountantt Accountanti Accountant « Accountant (Final) t (General) s (Shares) i s ( Legal”) fcub t Jr,Engineer & Sub engineer Office PM '■ ______■engineer T for Section Office) * BillingiGeneraltRecon- I t t -TT t t Office. t t t I L.D.C. UDC i UDC t UDC i « UDC « i LinemanjAssistanttLine t nominal Mustari •soliation ! > l I ! •Lineman :Helper» Role Employee • l LDC LDCt LDCi LDC All S types of Clerks O & M = Ornenisation & Maintpn?nce U.D.C.= Upper Division Clerk.Clerk L.D.C.» Lower Division Clerk. •pOo... Society. General Body, at the top, which is assisted by Board of Directors and the executives who assist the Board of Directors in implementing the policy decisions of the Board. Organisation chart of the Electric Society is given herewith in figure 3.1. Formation of rural electric co-operatives in the country was a new experiment. Success of any society working in the area of the electricity distribution depends mainly on technical staff. The technical staff must be adequate in number and competent to carry out efficiently and effectively the required task. At the beginning, the Electric Society could not get skilled and experienced technical staff in adequate number. The MSEB, therefore, gave on deputations some of such staff which was required by the Electric Society: Initially when the Electric Society appointed 145 technical people, 24 of them had been taken from the MSEB on deputation. Chief accountant was also a deputed from the MSEB. The staff of the Electric Society is divided into two groups such as 1) Administrative Staff 2) Technical Staff. The Electric Society slowly built up its own cadre by recruiting its staff locally and training them under the guidance of the MSEB and the REC. The MSEB staff on deputation was gradually replaced by the Electric Society's own staff. The Board of Directors is fully empowered to recruit, or appoint any staff required for this purpose, The employement of staff depends upon the quantum of the construction work handled and the maintenance work involved. As on 31/3/1988, total staff of the Electric Society was 988, The classification of the total staff was as follows - a. Technical staff 486 b. Administrative staff 287 c. Temporary workers 215 Total 988 BUSINESS OF THE ELECTRIC SOCIETY Purchase and sale of electricity is the main business of the Electric Society. The Electric Society is not generating electric power itself. It purchases electricity from the MSEB on unit basis and supplies it to its various types of consumers. The Electric Society provides electricity to agriculture sector, small scale, large and medium scale industries, domestic and commercial use, water works section and street light of villages and towns. The MSEB sells electric energy to the Electric Society, and charges for it. The charges consist of electricity charges, fuel cost and excise duty, if any. Normally units purchased from the MSEB are not utilised fully. The difference between purchase and sale of electric power is called line loss. 57 In order to provide electricity to the consumers, it is necessary to erect the HT lines, LT lines and transformer centres (i.e., electricity distribution system). The Electric Society completed its Project Plan before 1978 and succeeded in fullfilling the electricity demands of the consumers. The MSEB supplies electricity to the Electric Society through substations of the MSEB. For regular and proper voltage of supply the MSEB has established eight substations in the area of operation of the Electric Society. In short, the Electric Society purchases the bulk electricity from the MSEB on unit basis, and arranges its retail distribution among the consumers. The collection of revenue by selling electricity is the main source of income of the Electric Society. For the purpose of measuring the consumption of electric power meter tariff system is allowed to the all consumers excluding agricultural consumers. Flat rate (HP tariff system or Meter tariff) system is used for agricultural consumption from July 1977. As the Electric Society is working in rural area, it has given top priority to rural electrification through pumpset energisation. It is possible to utilise of ground water resources efficiently with the help of electric power. Agriculturists find an electric motor cheaper than an oil engine on the basis of cost of operation. 58 The Following Table gives details of purchase and sale of electricity by the Electric Society for a period of 18 years upto 1987-88. TABLE 3.2 : STATEMENT SHOWING PURCHASE AND SALE OF ELECTRICITY BY THE ELECTRIC SOCIETY (units in lakhs) Year Unit purchased Unit sold line loss line loss (kwh) (kwh) (kwh) % 1970-71 46. 20 23.26 22 49.65 1971-72 567.03 257.23 3j9<80 54.64 1972-73 645.04 375.54 f / 269.50 41.78 1973-74 634.52 412.41 ^ 222.11 35.00 1974-75 736.22 471.29 264.93 35.98 1975-76 810.68 517.37 293.31 36. 18 1976-77 1002.06 679.16 322.90 32.22 1977-78 1286.39 900.47 385.92 30. 00 1978-79 1514.01 1059.81 454.20 30.00 1979-80 1346.34 1009.75 336.59 25.00 1980-81 1820.53 1365.39 455.14 25.00 1981-82, 1951.35 1658.65 292.70 15.00 19£2^3 2105.81 1789.44 316.37 15.00 '*$83- 84 2146.72 1824.71 322.01 15.00 1984-85 2457.51 2088.88 368.63 15.00 1985-86 2549.64 2167.19 382.45 15.00 1986-87 2671.03 2270.38 400.65 15.00 1987-88 2693.40 2289.39 404.01 15.00 Source : Compiled from Annual Reports of Re1event years of the Electric Society. 3.7 THE MSEB TARIFF FOR THE ELECTRIC SOCIETY Electricity is purchased by the Electric Society from the MSEB on unit basis. The MSEB charges on unit (i) the electric bill € 18% p.a. on vhe bill amount outstanding. Details of the MSEB tariff in case of the Electric Society are given in Table 3.3. below. TABLE 3.3 : STATEMENT SHOWING THE YEARWISE MSEB TARIFF. Period Rate (paise per unit) March 1971 to Dec. 1973 - 7.2 4 full cost adjustment (FCA) Jan. 1974 to Oct. 1974 - 8.00 4 F.C.A. Nov. 1974 to Sept.1975 - 8.9 4 F.C. A. Oct. 1975 to Sept.1976 - 10.00 4 F.C.A. Oct. 1976 to Sept.1977 - 11.20 4 F.C.A. 1977 - 78 - 12.30 4 F.C.A. 1978 - 79 - 13.70 4 F.C.A. 1979 - 80 - 14.80 4 F.C.A. 1980 - 81 - 17. 15 4 F.C.A. F.C.A. ^ 1981 - 82 - 20.64 4 1982 - 83 - 24.81 4 F.C.A. 1983 - 84 - 29.55 4 F.C.A. 1984 - 85 - 34.57 4 F.C.A. 1985 - 86 - 39.35 4 F.C.A. 1986 - 87 - 44. 17 4 F.C.A. Source : Office Records of the Electric Society. The table shows that the MSEB has changed its rates every year. In 1973 the rate of electric bill was 7.2 paise per unit. By the end of 1986-87 this rate stood at 44.17 paise per unit which moves out to more than six times, the original rate. But the Electric Society has paid the MSEB @ 60 the rate of 8 paise per unit upto the month of October 1985 and at 12 paise per unit from the month of November 1985 onwards. This has become the main point of difference between the Electric Society and the MSEB. The Electric Society treats that it has cleared the MSEB dues for the electricity purchased from the MSEB. The MSEB, on the other hand, treats the difference which remains unpaid in the process as the arnou -t defaulted by the Electric Society. REFERENCES 1. By-Laws of the Electric Society, P.7.