Chandigarh Administration, powermen talks inconclusive

Chandigarh, February 22

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The talks between the UT Administration and the striking powermen remained inconclusive. VK Gupta, spokesperson, All-India Power Engineers Federation, said they did not get any concrete assurance from the Chandigarh Administration.

UT Adviser Dharam Pal said, “We tried to negotiate with the striking employees the whole day and have been lenient with them so far.”

Gupta said a memorandum had been sent to the Union Home Minister with a demand to review the decision to privatise the Electricity Department. He said the privatisation model was exposed to market risks and could cause steep and uncontrolled tariff hikes. The guarantee of low tariffs was available to consumers in the UT, but with the department going into private hands, the utility benefit of low tariff would not be ensured, he added.

“Under the proposed transfer scheme of the Chandigarh Administration, all existing employees will be transferred to a private company, which is an inferior service condition as compared to government service. This violates Section 133 of the Electricity Act-2003,” Gupta added.

The first day of the strike led to a sharp dip in power demand, from 200 MW to 80 MW, due to power outage. TNS

Aim to protect

On why the power employees resorted to strike when 90 per cent of the privatisation process was already completed in the UT, VK Gupta, spokesperson, All-India Power Engineers Federation, said, “Our intent behind the strike is to protect the employees who would be in jeopardy due to privatisation and may lose benefits. We request the Administration to retain the services of these employees.”