Thermal contractual employees protest, demand regularisation of services

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 19

Members of the Theka Mulazim Sangharsh Morcha staged a protest in front of the Guru Hargobind Thermal plant in Lehra Mohabbat here today.

Raising slogans against the state government for not heeding their demands, members burnt an effigy of the state government as part of their protest.

Accusing the state government of aiming at privatization of government run thermal plants, the protesting employees stated that despite making tall promises, even the Congress government was now expressing its helplessness in keeping the thermal plants running.

State president of the union Rajinder Singh Dhillon and Varinder Singh addressed the protesting employees and stated that following regular agitations by the unions members, the SAD-BJP alliance had devised a policy in 2016 to regularize the jobs of employees working on contractual basis. But the present government is trying its best to do away with the policy.

“Now the state government is stating that only those employees who have been working on contractual basis for 10 or more years will be regularized and is also trying to keep the employees working on outsourcing basis away from the scheme of regularisation. This is being done despite the fact that workers hired through outsourcing firms are doing a lot of work,” they said.

They further stated that the Congress government is also backtracking from its promise of providing jobs to at least one person of every family and instead rendering several employees jobless through its anti-people policies.

They demanded that the present government should set an example and set aside the agenda adopted by the last government pertaining to the privatisation of government works and services and bring back the employees of thermal plants, suwidha Kendra, sewerage board, water supply department and others be regularized.

Taking a strict note of the fact that the state police was raiding houses and other premises to round up farmers ahead of their September 22 protest in Patiala, the protesters stated that it was a pity that Congress government was also adopting the policy of the SAD-BJP government which used to muzzle the voice of opposition.