Powercom staff unite to protest Punjab govt’s plan to sell corporation’s properties

The engineers, employees and pensioners of the Powercom organisation have united against the Aam Aadmi Party government’s proposal to sell hundreds of acres of highly valuable properties located in major cities. Most of these lands were donated decades ago by village panchayats and private individuals to the then Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) for establishing offices and grids.

An emergency meeting regarding this issue was held under the joint chairmanship of Rattan Singh Majari and Gurpreet Singh Gandiwind, representing various organisations, including PSEB Employees Joint Forum, Bijli Mulazam Ekta Manch Punjab, Association of Junior Engineers, Grid Sub Station Employees Union (Regd. 24), Powercom & Transco Pensioners Union Punjab (affiliated with AITUC), Pensioners Welfare Federation Phalwan, and PSEB Engineers’ Association.

In this meeting, the engineers, employees and pensioners unanimously decided to launch a united struggle against the government’s proposal to sell Powercom’s properties, which they declared as a direct threat to the very existence of the organisation.

According to a press release issued by the joint front leaders Harpal Singh and Gurvel Singh Ballpuriya, protest dharnas will be held across all Powercom circles from October 16 to October 31, followed by flag marches. On November 2, a state-level protest will be organised in Ludhiana against the Power Minister. Preparations for this protest will begin on October 14, with circle-level joint meetings being held across Punjab to ensure large-scale mobilisation.

Leaders present on the occasion warned that today’s joint meetings will serve as a foundation for a massive movement against the government’s anti-employee and anti-institution decision to sell Powercom’s properties.

The engineers, employees and pensioner leaders further demanded that the Punjab government immediately withdraw the forced duties imposed on Powercom staff to prevent stubble burning by farmers. They also strongly condemned the government’s cheap proposal to recruit staff through PESCO company instead of filling vacant posts through regular recruitment.

The employee and pensioner leaders demanded immediate implementation of all the commitments made to them during meetings held with the Punjab Government and Power Management on August 10 and August 14, regarding employees’ and pensioners’ pending demands.

The leaders also appealed to struggling farmers and fraternal organisations to extend their support to this movement against the proposal to sell Powercom’s assets. ‎