LUCKNOW: A one day strike on 9th July will be held across the country against privatisation of the power sector in UP with the active participation of farmers and consumer forums , said Shailendra Dubey Chairman All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF).
Bijli Maha Panchayat was held today in Lucknow , in which various trade union leaders, farmer leaders and consumer organizations from across the state along with thousands of electricity employees of Uttar Pradesh and their families protested against privatization
The Mahapanchayat also decided that In UP the electricity employees will protest on July 2, and start work boycotts on the day tender notice for privatisation issued by UPPCL. All the 27 lakh electricity employees will resort to token strike on the same day. The farmers organisations and consumers will also participate in the protest along with employees.
In the Mahapanchayat, the participation of the top leadership of the country's major unions and state associations including from Punjab, and farmers' organizations has shown that everyone is concerned about ill effects of privatisation of the power sector .
Dr. Darshan Pal, National President of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and Ramanath Jha, Executive Managing Director of Transparency International India who could not reach Lucknow after flight cancellation addressed a mammoth gatherings of electricity employees, various trade unions , farmers via video conferencing, informed V K Gupta Media advisor AIPEF.
The State Electricity Consumer Council h President Awadhesh Kumar Verma also put forth the concerns of consumers on the stage.
Prominent speakers who spoke from the stage are Shivgopal Mishra, General Secretary of All India Railway Men's Federation, A K jain of AIPEF, R.K. Trivedi, President of All India Power Diploma Engineers Federation, Sudip Dutta, General Secretary of Electricity Employees of India, Y.P. Arora of United Forum of Bank Unions, and senior Supreme Court advocate Y.S. Lohit and Jitender Gurjar General Secretary UP abhiyanta Sangh.
Shailendera Dubey, Chairman AIPEF said that this protest is now taking the shape of national form , where all the speakers strongly opposed the privatisation of the power distribution sector, proposed increase in power rates to give benefits to private players and demanded service security of employees in the state sector.
The Maha Panchayat also demanded that all the victimization of electricity employees done in UPPCL must be withdrawn and all agreements done in the past should be adhered to strictly.