Power Engineers Associations urge UP CM to resolve the crisis
Bahadurjeet Singh/Rupnagar,March 18,2023
Power Engineers Associations from all the states in the country are extending solidarity support for the striking electricity employees of Uttar Pradesh and have written to the Chief Minister to direct management of UP Power Corporations to resolve the crisis.
Massive demonstrations and protest meetings have been held in different states including Punjab, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana , Jammu and Kashmir , West Bengal ,Maharashtra, and Uttarakhand in support of striking UP electricity employees.
V K Gupta AIPEF spokesperson said that the employees were forced to strike due to the “stubbornness” of energy corporations’ top management. Engineers, junior engineers, technicians, operating staff, and clerical and contractual employees are among those on 72 hour strike. The Power employees of Uttar Pradesh were in the path of struggle from November, 2022 against privatization attempts directed by the UP Government to dispose of two new 800 MW generation units of Anpara and Obra and related transmission assets currently owned by UPPCL. On 3rd December 2022 a written agreement was signed between Vidyut Karmachari Samyukt Sangharsh Samiti and UP Power Corporation in presence of the Energy Minister of UP, with an assurance of not to privatise the power assets. In a complete retrograde move, the Management of the Power Corporations is now denying the mutually agreed and signed agreement.
Padamjit Singh Chief Patron AIPEF said that when the agitation was going on in case of privatisation of Purvanchal in October 2020 , there was agreement that the privatisation proposal be withdrawn. The agreement said the state power distribution companies will strive to improve power supply and operational efficiencies within the existing framework and any privatisation proposal in future will be made after taking the employees and authorities in confidence.
The UP Power engineers have proven track record in operation of thermal power stations, must be allowed to retain the new 800 MW supercritical units at Anpara and Obra as this will also help to meet power shortage, said Gupta
Power Engineers Associations urge UP CM to resolve the crisis. The striking electricity employees are also demanding to regularize the contractual workers and to scrap the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022.
(royalpatiala.in News)
