Union govt decision will affect the common people; have to pay higher electricity tariff-PSEBEA
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Patiala
On the call of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees & Engineers (NCCOEEE) 1.5 Million Power Employees & Engineers across the country held massive protest demonstrations today against the privatisation policies of the Central Government. Power employees and engineers are opposing the Central Government move to privatise distribution of electricity.
All members of the PSEB Engineers’ Association participated in this nationwide protest, to safeguard the interest of public sector undertakings, consumers and employees of the power sector, informed Er Jasvir Singh Dhiman, President of the Association.
It was further informed that the Central Government is grossly misleading the public by saying that the electricity will be cheaper after privatization. Post-privatization the private Discoms are allowed to take a minimum of 16 percent profit, which would make electricity expensive for the consumers. Further the central government was looking at abolishing the subsidy and cross-subsidy in the supply of electricity, which would make electricity out of reach for the general consumers.
The unilateral amendments to Electricity Act 2003 by the Central Government will push the sector undertakings into extreme financial crisis and the common people will be left to face the burden of higher tariff.
It was informed that the protest would be further intensified if the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and Standard Bidding Document for privatisation of electricity are not scrapped immediately. To enhance the efficiency of power utilities they all should be reintegrated like Kerala. New pension scheme should be scrapped and the old pension scheme should be restored, all contract and casual workers/employees should be regularised and a policy for regular filling of vacant posts must be announced immediately to improve consumer services.
Er Dhiman informed that PSEBEA welcomes the stand of Punjab Govt against unilateral lopsided amendments in Electricity Act to usurp the powers of the state by Union Govt even though Electricity is a concurrent subject.
All engineers in the state wore black badges and kept their mobile phones switched off from 11 AM to 2 PM as a mark of protest and gate rallies were organised across the state.
November 26,2020
