Praveen Prakash, an IAS officer of 1994 badge, took charge as the CMD of Eastern Power Distribution Corporation Limited (EPDCL), Visakhapatnam on the 24th of May. A determined man of high integrity, he made solemn promise to himself to bring electricity to every household through the Indiramma scheme. The knowledge acquired during his position as the Collector of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari is just one of the factors that help him in good stead in his new endeavour. He is well-known and loved by all for his selfless acts.

One instance of his bravely and dedication to people is that he once swam the Sarada river with water sachets on his back to hand them over to the tribals of Madugula mandal which was inundated due to floods. He is an avid supporter of the State Government, which according to him, is taking all steps to promote health tourism in Visakhapatnam. He said the Government had already set in motion efforts to set up the Visakhapatnam Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) at Adarshnagar on 150 acres of land. The Housing Development Corporation has sanctioned Rs 77 crore for the VIMS. The first project - L.V. Prasad Eye Hospital and Research Institute - would be operational in the health city on an area of five acres by soon. Prakash does not believe in half-hearted efforts and that is evident in the way he works each day.

It is said that our limitations and success will be based, most often, on your own expectations for ourselves. What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon. Similarly, his aim has always been to extract perfection not just from himself but also from those around him. To give its best to the consumers and provide quicker attention to their grievances, the Eastern Power Distribution Company of AP Limited (EPDCL) had established an Electricity Call Centre, a Customer Service Centre and a Collection Centre under one roof at the VUDA Complex in Siripuram. The Call Centre that was started on September 23, 2002, works round the clock for 365 days and is provided with a toll free number (1912) to enable consumers to register their complaints.

It was set up mainly to handle fuse and supply related complaints. Every complaint lodged is allotted a token number and grouped under appropriate type of complaint. The resolving time is also specified based on the type of complaint: the resolving time is four hours for normal fuse calls; six hours for line breakdowns and 24 hours for replacement of distribution transformers. The Customer Service Centre was set up under the single window clearance theme to handle all customer related activities from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. throughout the year.

This Centre takes care of activities like registration of new service connections, additional loads, phase conversions, category changes, name transfers, billing related complaints and meter related problems. All complaints are registered and redressed as per the specified time limit like for replacement of stuck-up or defective meters 22 days, burnt meters replacement seven days and name transfers seven days. Under the 48 hours release scheme' that was initiated in April 2003, the Centre has the credit of releasing over 1,000 service connections a month under category I to III.

A lot of credit goes to Prakash who has maintained the Customer Service Centre with a strict hold over its proper functioning. To oversee the smooth functioning of the counters and to make sure that customers are not made to stand in long queues, he has ensured that the counters are manned by skilled staff. It is hardly surprising that the centre is getting popular day by day. Indeed, Prakash truly is a winner who learns from the past and enjoys working in the present toward the future.