Power employees to go on strike on July 9 over privatisation

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

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The convention unanimously condemned the privatisation of electricity and ignoring the demands of electricity employees and declared a nationwide general strike on July 9. For the success of the strike, joint meetings of consumers and employees will be held across the country. Hundreds of office bearers and workers from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Rajasthan participated in the convention and approved the strike proposal presented by the committee's convener Sudeep Dutta.

The convention condemned the decision of the UP government to privatise Purvanchal and Dakshinchal Discom and decided to demonstrate solidarity across the country on July 2 in support of the ongoing movement of the UP electricity employees. National vice-president of EEFI Subhash Lamba said electricity was a service for the government and a business for the private company. He said after privatisation, electricity would be out of the reach of the poor and farmers. He said despite the announcement, the notification of the Eighth Pay Commission had not been issued. He said the demands such as restoration of old pension, regularisation of contract workers, filling of vacant posts through permanent recruitment etc were being ignored. NHPC Union Chairman Devendra Singh Hooda said on July 9, all organisations in Haryana would hold a strike in solidarity.