The organisers and participants of Lineman Diwas on 7th March, 2026 in Jammu deserve appreciation and congratulations. It was encouraging to see the Hon’ble Chief Minister and other senior government functionaries participate in the event. Perhaps for the first time, such a large gathering of both government leadership and field staff of the Power Development Department (PDD) assembled together, and the valuable contributions of JKPDD ground workers were duly acknowledged. On this occasion Hon’ble Chief Minister marked Lineman Diwas by calling for a “zero casualty” goal for power department staff, labelling them “indispensable foot soldiers”. He directed officials to ensure proper safety equipment and training, while praising workers for their dedication during crises.

It was also heartening to note that the issue of employee safety received due attention, with an announcement of ₹1.5 crore allocated for safety equipment.

The rate of accidents within the JKPDD system remains significantly high. Over the past ten years, there have been 170 fatal accidents and 151 injury cases. Achieving the goal of zero accidents requires the strict enforcement of safety regulations, comprehensive safety training programs, public awareness and the adequate provision of safety devices and personal protective equipment.

Unlike many other states and UTs in India, J&K lacks any training institute for the engineers and other field staff. Although safety trainings are being conducted from time to time but the professional approach for trainings requires training infrastructure as per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) guidelines for the recognition of training institutes. These guidelines mandate that institutions must have dedicated, equipped buildings with full-time staff to train personnel in generation, transmission, or distribution. The CEA Safety Regulations also provide detailed training syllabi for power sector employees.

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