Bhubaneswar: Retired IAS officer UN Behera was administered oath of office and secrecy as the new chairman of Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) by Governor SC Jamir at the Raj Bhawan here today.
Agriculture Production Commissioner Gagan Kumar Dhal, Principal Secretary Home Asit Tripathy, Principal Secretary, Energy, Rajesh Verma, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, GVV Sarma, Principal Secretary to Governor, CJ Venugopal, CMD GRIDCO & OPTCL Hemant Sharma, Secretary, ST & SC Development, secretary, Information & Public Relations, Surendra Kumar, Special Secretary General Administration and Finance, Ashok Kumar Meena and others were present at the oath taking ceremony.
Talking to media persons, Behera said electricity is is one of the major drivers of development. The per capita electric consumption is treated as a major indicator for development of any country or state.
“As chairman of Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), my priority would be the overall development of the electricity sector in the state. I shall try to create the environment in which the power generating companies, power transmission companies, distribution companies would function well. At the same time the interest of the consumers will have to be taken care of. I will ensure that the consumers should get power at the optimum rate so that the burden of power tariff is reduced and overall development of the power sector takes place,” he added.
The 1993 batch IAS officer, Behera was Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister. He was to retire from services in July this year. But he opted for voluntary retirement which was accepted by the state government.
He was appointed as the OERC Chairman on the recommendation of the members of the Selection Committee headed by Justice Justice Vinod Prasad of the Orissa High Court. Apart from this, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi and the Chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission Gireesh B Pradhan had also recommended the names for selection of OERC Chairman and Member.
Accepting the recommendation, the Chief Minister had appointed Behera as Chairman and Souri Kanta Parhi, former Air Vice Marshal, as a member of the OERC on October 27 last year.
The post of OERC chairman was lying vacant since October 8 last year with the end of tenure of SP Nanda.