B. Ashok, chairman and managing director, Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), has been transferred as Secretary, Agriculture Department. Rajan N. Khobragade, who was recently appointed Principal Secretary (Water Resources), is the new CMD, KSEB, a government order issued on Thursday said.
Mr. Ashok, a 1998 batch IAS officer, had taken over as CMD of the State power utility in July 2021. He would have completed one year as CMD in a few days time.
Mr. Ashok's tenure was marked by bitter stand-offs with the Left-backed employees' unions. His decision to entrust the security of the KSEB headquarters to the State Industrial Security Force (SISF) had angered the unions, which launched an indefinite strike accusing the KSEB management of trying to curtail their organisational freedom.
Problems again cropped up in the KSEB with the CPI(M)-backed KSEB Officers' Association (KSEBOA) objecting to the suspension of an executive engineer and KSEBOA State-level office-bearer over charges of going on unauthorised leave. The ensuing agitations led to the suspensions of the KSEBOA State president and general secretary, transfers, and court cases even as the State government stepped in to settle the row.
During his tenure, the KSEB had also announced an operating profit of ₹1,466 crore for the 2021-22 fiscal.
The new KSEB CMD, Mr. Khobragade, is a 1993 batch IAS officer. Mr. Khobragade, who was health secretary during the COVID-19 outbreak, was posted as Secretary, Water Resources, in June this year.
