27 protesting CITU leaders arrested

SHIMLA: The labour dispute between the CITU-led worker union and HP Power Corporation (HPPCL) and its contractor firm, Patel Engineering, which is executing the 450 mw Shongtong-Karcham power project in Kinnaur, took an ugly turn when the police arrested 27 CITU leaders, including Rakesh Singha, Vijender Mehra and Bihari Siyogi from the gate of the HPPCL headquarters here last night.

Activists of CITU raise slogans against engineering company in Shimla on Thursday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 23

The labour dispute between the CITU-led worker union and HP Power Corporation (HPPCL) and its contractor firm, Patel Engineering, which is executing the 450 mw Shongtong-Karcham power project in Kinnaur, took an ugly turn when the police arrested 27 CITU leaders, including Rakesh Singha, Vijender Mehra and Bihari Siyogi from the gate of the HPPCL headquarters here last night.

The CPM termed the police action draconian and alleged, “Policemen in civil dress beat them up on the way and in the lockup. Is it a crime to ask the authorities to pay tunnel allowance, overtime wages and safety at work sites?, CPM leaders asked and staged a protest.

“We demand a probe into the arrest and thrashing up the peaceful protesters and dropping of non-bailable sections in the FIR lodged against them,” demanded CPM secretariat member Tikender Panwar, Dr Kuldip Tanwar and Sanjay Chauhan at a press conference. It was human rights violation as it had happened with CITU leaders for the second time.

Panwar claimed that the CITU leaders were leading a delegation of three project workers to HPPCL MD office for talks fixed by the latter in the evening yesterday. But the HPPCL locked the gate and the police resorted to force and arrested 27 activists and thrashed them, he alleged.

Panwar said there was a nexus of the HPPCL, Patel Engineering and public representatives of Kinnaur who wanted to drag the labour dispute. The HPPCL was not implementing court’s directives to resolve the dispute, he charged.

He further alleged the state government had failed to protect the working class and people of Kinnaur, who were protesting against the large-scale damage being done to the local ecology by hydropower projects. As many as 111 people were arrested last year, most of them had been still languishing in jails for months as they were implicated in false cases, the CPM alleged.

Tanwar said the company was allotted civil work for about Rs 1,000 crore, which otherwise was estimated to be over Rs 1,600 crore. “The company and HPPCL want to drag the dispute to raise the cost of the project,” he alleged.

CITU created problem: HPPCL

HPPCL MD DK Sharma termed the CPM allegations baseless, saying that CITU created law and order problem in the office on February 17 and yesterday as only three workers had been invited who were to be reinstated as per Labour Court order.
Out of 111 terminated workers, the company refused to take back 36 workers who faced criminal cases, still pending in court, but CITU insisted on taking back all workers and moved the High Court and Labour Court and case was still sub judice, he added.

Time line

2016

March 17: Workers went on strike after the company refused them wages and allowance

March 26 : The contractor terminated 26 workers

April 27: The dispute went to Labour Court which directed the company to reinstate them.

August 16: As many as 97 workers terminated as they protested after company demolished their camps

Sept 20: The HC directed the state agencies to resolve the dispute in 3 months

2017

Feb 17: CITU gheraoed HPPCL office

20 freed

The police produced 26 workers in the court which released 20 workers but six, including Singha, Mehra and Siyogi, were sent to judicial remand till February 25.