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Mid-Term Evaluation Meeting1 & 2 April 2009, Jaipur
CUTS- Calcutta Resource Centre
CAPACITY BUILDING ON ELECTRICITY REFORMS IN
BANGLADESH, INDIA AND NEPAL(RESA)
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PART I
Project Implementation in West Bengal
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1. Launch meeting and Training of nodal persons/project staff
The Launch Meeting was organised in Kolkata. This helped the West Bengal partner to generate greater interest about the project in the local media, local consumer groups and impress upon the Power Department and the West Bengal Regulatory Commission about the importance of this project.
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2. Local Inception Workshop
o Before organizing this workshop, the RG Group was formed and the 10 select district level partners were identified
o The RG members; the local partners; the media; the local CSOs and general consumers were invited to this workshop.
o This workshop was a great success and was reported in three leading news paper.
o The objective was to brief the invitees about the scope and contours of the project activities and objective.
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3. Field Research and Baseline Survey
The survey was successfully done with the help of the 10 local partners covering 700 respondents from different categories of consumer groups across the state.
The draft baseline paper was prepared capturing the findings of the survey .
The draft paper was circulated among the RG group for their comments.
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4. Reference Group Meeting-I
The comments received from the RG groups were collated, discussed in detail to arrive at a consensus on the points to be considered and those to be rejected.
The second objective of this meeting was to finalise the components and the structure of the TTM that could be used not just for this project but also for future purposes.
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Major Outcome of RG-1
Prititosh Ray, Senior Member of the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC), and K L Biswas, Secretary, WBERC, actively participated in the Reference Group (RG) Meeting for the first time.
The support of the WBERC was important for successful implementation of the project in West Bengal.
A team of three experts---representative of the WBERC, Utility service provider and an academician---was formed to guide the CUTS-CRC team in finalisation of the territorial training manual (TTM).
The said experts also helped in identifying resource persons during the territorial trainings.
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5.Territorial Training
This was conducted in two phases to train the select trainers from the 10 local partners.
The first phase was to orient them to basic and simple issues related to consumers of electricity.
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First phase covered the following topics:
General Introduction to Electricity Sector Reforms and Regulation
Quality of Service: A general Overview
Complaint Redressal Mechanism
Procedure for Getting New Connection – Permanent and Temporary Connection
Quality of service: Technical Issues
Understanding Electricity Consumption & Bill
Reduction of power theft: Role of consumers
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The second phase focused on themore complex issues.
The agenda covered:
o Regulatory Decision-making Process o Tariff Determination Processo Energy Conservation: Role of Consumerso Energy Efficiency and Electrical Equipment
Rating o Tariff Regulation: Key issueso Competition Issues in Electricity Supply
Industry
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6. Grassroots Interface Meetings (GIM) -Phase I
o Most of the GIMs generated enthusiastic response from local media. The meetings were telecasted in the local T.V. channels which helped in greater outreach.
o In all, 24 Grassroots meetings were organised in 10 districts of West Bengal .
o All the districts organised one meeting each in the district headquarter and at least one more at the block level.
o Some of the partners organized more than two GIMs in their districts.
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o The sessions were conducted by CUTS’ representative, the representatives from the local utility and also by the local partner.
o The three principal themes focused were:
o Electricity Reform Process and Role of Consumers
o Complaint Redressal Mechanismo Energy Conservation and Reduction of
Power Theft: Role of Consumers
o A synthesis report has been prepared where the main systemic problems have been collated.
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Outputs of the Project
Territorial Base Paper
Training Manual
Handouts
Calendar with key messages for consumers
Synthesis Report
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PART-II
SLOT ANALYSIS
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Strengths
The project has succeeded in generating keen interest and enthusiasm among:
o Consumers---both rural and urban;
o The Department of Power and Non- Conventional Energy Sources (NES), Government of West Bengal;
o The West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (of course after initial reservations);
o The Utilities;
o The Media (print as well as electronic);
o Academia.
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Political environment has been supportive towards the implementation of project and Involvement of WBERC
Active involvement of the RG members: Sense of ownership and commitment
Team members having rich experience on working at grassroots level
Involvement of local partners---strong and reliable networks at the grassroots level
Involvement and participation of media
Active support from CUTS head office
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Ways in which this project has further enhanced CUTS-Calcutta Resource Center's strength
The design and structure of this project has helped to pinpoint and identify the systemic and specific problems of the selected districts, of the different communities / consumer groups, and of the system as a whole.
Enhanced our and our local partners’ capacity and conviction to take this initiative forward in a surer and more effective manner to build capacity of consumers so that they can participate effectively in the Reform Process.
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It has created for CUTS-CRC a favourable position and relation with policy makers to enable CUTS to advocate and recommend policy change.
Cuts has earned great credibility and faith of Department of Power and NES and the Regulatory Commission in West Bengal.
Already one such recommendation put forward has been considered and corrective measures are being taken.
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Limitations
Project geographical coverage was limited to 10 districts only.
A two-year time period was felt to be insufficient to meet the consumer demand and eagerness for training in all areas concerning consumers .
Training needs are more substantial than could be covered under the activities of the project. Focused
periodic training modules are needed.
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Manpower issues are also pertinent in this context. A bigger team for the project will help in better implementation & impact.
Varying capacities of the partners to grasp & internalise the training inputs.
This was the first project and first initiative of its kind in the State on capacity building of consumers on Reform Process in Electricity Sector.
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Other Factors which Created Limitations
o Rigid mindset and traditional outlook of the older personnel at the local level in the distribution system.
o Abysmal ignorance of consumers about Reform process in Electricity sector
o Absolute lack of knowledge about the provisions laid down in the Regulations and about WBERC.
o Lack of robust information dissemination mechanisms and awareness programmes of the Utilities and the Regulatory Commission.
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Opportunities
There is an urgent need for undertaking periodic capacity building and awareness programmes and training programmes.
Need to extend the project to other districts of the State and neighbouring states, north-eastern states in particular.
Need for establishment of a parallel and informal 3-tier redressal mechanism at the districts and further down the level by building Consumer Assistance Cells.
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Informal 3-tier redressal mechanism proposed
Consumer Assistance Cell at the District level
Consumer Assistance Cell at CUTS-CRC
Complaint redressal of short listed cases at the Utility offices every alternate month.
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Opportunities (contd.)
Need to further engage with the Media and sensitise them on consumer and environmental / climate change issues related to Power and Energy.
Need to continue engaging with the WBERC officials and strengthen our relationship.
CUTS-CRC is now being invited by the major players in the power & energy sector to partner them in their capacity building/ awareness generation programmes and Grassroots projects.
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Threats Frequent reshuffling of senior government officials
may hinder the advocacy efforts
Change in Political and Social environment may affect and diminish the impact of our efforts.
There is a possibility that a few participants from the GIM Phase I may not be available for the GIM second phase.
Limited time available for second phase of the GIMs to be organised during the summers months may create organisational & logistical hurdles and affect participation of rural consumers.
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Name Co-Ordinates
1 Mr. Sunil Mitra Principal secretary, Dept of Power & NES, Govt. of West Bengal
2 Mr. A. K. Basu Member, State Planning Board, West Bengal
3 Prof. Sujay Basu Director, Centre of Energy and Environment Management
4 Dr. Asish Ghosh Director, Centre for Environment and Development
5 Mr. K. L. Biswas Secretary, WBERC
6 Mr. Malay Kr. De Chairman & Managing Director, WBSEDCL
7 Mr. D.C. Dutta Chief Engineer, WBSEDCL
8 Mr. Utpal Bhattacharyya Executive Director, Corporate Service ,CESC
9 Mr. Aniruddha Basu General Manager, Operations, CESC
10 Prof. Nabinananda Sen Reader Dept. of Business Management , University of Calcutta,
11 Mrs. Mala Banerjee President, Federation of Consumer Associations, West Bengal (FCAWB)
12 Mr. R.M. Nag Choudhury Public Affairs Officer, Federation of Consumer Associations, West Bengal (FCAWB)
13 Mr. Jayanta Basu Correspondent, The Telegraph
14 Mr. Krishnendu Banerjee Special Correspondent ,Times of India
15 Mr. Anish Gupta Reporter, Hindustan Times
16 Mr. Goutam Gupta Reporter , Ananda Bazar Patrika
17 Mr. Prititosh Ray Member, WEBERC
18 Mr. Dilip Samajpati Sr. Manager, Customer Relations, CESC
19 Mr. Mriganka Majumdar Executive Director (Commercial), WBSEDCL
20 Mr. Anupam Ray Associate Director, KPMG Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd.
21 Mr. S. K. Kundu Consultant, Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd. Department of Power & NES, Govt. of West Bengal
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West Bengal with its 10 select districts and the names of the partners
North (Uttar)Dinazpur
Islampur Ramakrishnapally Rural Welfare Society
Malda Chanchal Janakalyan Samity
Murshidabad Palsa Pally Unnayan Samity
Nadia Sreema MAhila samity
Purulia Purulia District Agrogami Mahila O Sishumangal Samity
North 24 Parganas
Khardah Kreta Swartha Suraksha Samity
Howrah Aggrogati
Hooghly The Residents of Consumer Association
Midnapur Birshingha Vidyasagar Society for Social Service
Kolkata Environment Governed Integrated Organisation
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