Power employees call nationwide strike against privatisation

Electricity employees have decided to hold a nationwide strike on July 9 against the privatisation of electricity and the neglect of employees’ demands.

A convention of electricity employees from northern states was organised here today under the banner of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEE), the apex body of electricity employees and engineers.

NCCOEE convenor Sudeep Dutta; Electricity Employees Federation of India vice-president Subhash Lamba; All Haryana Power Corporations Worker Union chairman Devendra Singh Hooda; HPSEBL (Himachal) president Kameshwar Sharma; TSU (Punjab) general secretary Kulwinder Singh Dhillon; PSEB (AITUC) general secretary Surendra Pal Singh Loharia; UT Powerman Union (Chandigarh) president Amrik Singh and general secretary Gopal Dutt Joshi; and EEFI General Council member Poonam Kundu addressed the convention.

The convention unanimously condemned the privatisation of electricity and the non-fulfilment of employees’ demands, and declared a nationwide general strike on July 9. To ensure the success of the strike, joint meetings of consumers and employees will be held across the country. Office-bearers and workers from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, and Rajasthan participated in the convention and approved the strike proposal, presented by the committee’s convenor Sudeep Dutta, with thunderous applause.

The convention also condemned the decision of the UP Government to privatise the Purvanchal and Dakshinchal Discoms and decided to demonstrate solidarity across the country on July 2 in support of the ongoing movement of electricity employees in UP.

The convenor said the Central Government was in a hurry to hand over the power sector to private hands. “Therefore, a group of ministers has been formed. There is a plan to present a Bill in Parliament during the Monsoon Session, against which 27 lakh electricity workers and engineers will go on a nationwide general strike on July 9,” he added.