CHANDIGARH: Responding to a nationwide call by the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) lakhs of power sector employees across nation including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh and Uttarakhand today observed the one day token strike cum work boycott to protest the privatisation policies of central and state governments along with proposed privatisation of two electricity distribution companies of Uttar Pradesh.
Shailendra Dubey, Chairman All India power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) said that in Uttar Pradesh alone, over one lakh employees, contract workers, junior engineers, and engineers along with farmers staged strong protests outside their workplaces and offices at all the 75 district headquarters throughout the day.
At Paiala a joint protest of PSEB engineers Association, JE council, Head office employees and others was held today. Padamjit Singh chief Patron AIPEF said that the present privatisation process is against Electricity Act 2003 as employees cannot be transferred to inferior service conditions. Parallel licensing is outright sale of public assets to corporate houses.
At Lucknow the Sangharsh Samiti demanded from the state government immediate withdrawal of the decision to privatize Purvanchal and Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam. UPPCL and some big officials of the government are in collusion with selected private houses to sell Discom assets worth lakhs of crores to private houses at throwaway prices.
In Haryana demonstrations were held in every circle including Hissar , Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Rewari, Panipat , Sonipat against power privatisation policy of the government, said Baljit Beniwal, General Secretary HPEA.
In solidarity with UP employees rallies were held in Jammu and Srinagar said Sachin Tickoo and Pirzada Hidayatullah. Lokesh Thakur President Himachal Engineers Association said a joint protest rally was taken at Kangra.
In Maharashtra , Sanjay Thakur of Subordinate Engineers Association (SEA) said that power sector employees started their protest from midnight against privatisation and governments parallel electricity licensing policy which could allow corporate houses to enter public power distribution space.Surya Kant Pawar informed that there was strong protest at Nashik thermal.
V K Gupta media advisor AIPEF said that protest demonstration and work boycott was observed throughout the day in all the states across the country including Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir , Assam, West Bengal. Kerala, Orissa, Uttrakhand, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh. The governments are gradually transferring public assets to private hands, jeopardizing their future. Electricity employees are on the warpath to save the power sector