Patiala, May 29 -- The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is reeling under severe staff shortage ahead of the paddy sowing season. According to the PSPCL data available, currently, more than 25,669 posts out of the sanctioned 39, 641 posts of linesman, assistant linesman and junior engineer are reportedly lying vacant with the highest being that of linesmen and assistant linesmen. The data reveals that 8,318 posts of linemen, out of the total sanctioned 13,390 are vacant, while 15,979 posts of assistant linemen, out of a total of 22,769 posts are vacant. Not only this, nearly 40% posts of the junior engineer (JE) are also lying vacant. As many as 1,372 posts, out of the total 3,482 are lying vacant. The staff shortage is hampering PSPCL's ability to handle consumer complaints, employees' associations said. It added that the staff shortage has been highlighted time and again but to no avail. PSEB engineers' association general secretary Ajay Pal Singh Atwal blamed delays in regular recruitments over the years had resulted in a huge vacancy in PSPCL. "It has only been a few years since PSPCL has started recruitment drives. It will take a few years of regular recruitment for different posts to fill the legacy vacancy gap. We appeal that the government should complete recruitments in time," Atwal said. Senior PSPCL officials, on the condition of anonymity, said that a contract for the recruitment of various technical posts has been given to the National Testing Agency. "We are planning to hold an exam for the 2,500 posts of lineman and 300 posts of JE in June. We will ask NTA, the recruitment agency, to conduct an exam for the posts at the earliest," the official added....