Inordinate delay in fulfilment of demands, JEs hold protest

Patiala, November 10

Central Working Committee members of the Junior Engineers’ Council of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) held a protest in front of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) headquarters here today.

Davinder Singh, State General Secretary, Council of JEs PSEB, informed the press today that the protest was organised to highlight the inordinate delay in the fulfilment of various demands of the cadre of Power Junior Engineers during the second phase of their agitation programme.

The state president, Paramjit Singh Khattra and the general secretary of the JEs Council, Davinder Singh, told The Tribune that according to their agitation programme drawn up by the Central Working Committee, Power Junior Engineers held circle-level protest rallies in front of the distribution circle headquarters of the PSPCL on November 3 and pressed for the fulfilment of their demands.

They added that in the past, the Finance Department of the State Government imposed unnecessary conditions while approving the recommendation of the High-Level Committee formed by the state Government to grant initial pay to Power Junior Engineers of Rs 19,260 and placement in a separate group in the pay conversion table.

Powercom Management continues to follow up with the Finance Department to remove these conditions, but to no avail. Hence, there is widespread resentment among the Power Junior Engineers regarding this discrimination. Thus, they are forced to agitate against the management, said Khattra.

He added that the JEs’ are being harassed by the police. They have started registering FIRs against them in order to hold them responsible for the accidents that happen to the general public and outsourced contract employees due to electrocution, added Khattra.

In order to overcome manpower and equipment relations difficulties, along with the previously mentioned problems, various recommendations have been finalised by the Field Difficulties Committee (FDC) in meetings with the JEs Council, but there has been a delay in the implementation.