Pvt firm likely to take charge of Power Dept in first week of Feb

The UT Administration is likely to hand over assets of the Electricity Department to Kolkata-based Eminent Electricity Distribution Limited (EEDL) in the first week of February as the company has deposited Rs 871 crore with the Administration. The assets to be transferred include 16 sub-division offices, four division offices, one circle office and a control room. After taking charge of the department, the company will issue electricity bills and manage all helpline numbers.

President of power distribution at RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group PR Kumar emphasised, “As we move forward with the takeover, we want to reassure the employees of the Electricity Department that their welfare, including service conditions and retirement benefits, will be fully protected as per the agreement.” As EEDL prepares to take charge of Chandigarh’s power distribution, the company remains steadfast in its commitment to both consumers and employees, ensuring a future of innovation, efficiency and trust for the region, he added.

Meanwhile, electricity workers have decided to boycott work from the day the department is handed over to the private company. Gopal Dutt Joshi, general secretary, UT Powermen Union, warned that if before handing over the department the employees were sent to private companies without making a policy for them, then the employees will boycott the work, due to which the Administration’s adamant attitude will be responsible for the problems faced by people. The department has approximately 600 regular employees and around 500 outsourced workers.

Meanwhile, the UT Administration has sought employees from Haryana to thwart agitation of electricity workers in the city. The Secretary of the UT Engineering Department yesterday wrote a letter to the MD of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and the Secretary of the Energy Department of the Haryana Government, asking him to send 9 JEs, 23 linemen, 55 assistant linemen, 16 SSAs and 10 drivers.

However, the Haryana chapter of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEE) has unanimously decided in a meeting that not a single employee or engineer would go to Chandigarh to run electricity-related operations. It was also decided to hold protests against privatisation in all subdivisions on January 31.

The UT Administration had invited bids for the privatisation process in November 2020 and declared the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group the highest bidder among seven companies in May 2021.