Electricity employees to observe nationwide strike on June 26 against privatization
Employees to hold four rallies in protest against privatization in Uttar Pradesh
Hyderabad: The National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees (NCCOEEE) and engineers decided to observe a nationwide strike on June 26 to protest against the privatization of electricity. It decided to hold conferences across the country in April and May to make the nationwide strike a success.
A decision was also taken to organize four rallies in protest against the ongoing process of privatization in Uttar Pradesh. A decision to hold a series of protests was taken at the NCCOEEE held in Nagpur on Sunday, according to Chairman of All India Power Engineers Federation, Shailendra Dubey and Secretary General P Ratnakar Rao.
A resolution passed in the NCCOEEE general assembly stated that the manner in which the profit-making power department of Chandigarh was privatized is extremely objectionable. According to the UP government, arrears to the tune of Rs.1.15 lakh crore were due and the loss is of Rs.1.10 lakh crore.
Thus, it is clear that if the revenue is recovered, then the power distribution corporations of UP are in profit. The resolution further stated that the transmission sector was being privatized extensively in the name of tariff based competitive bidding and asset monetization. The curse of privatization would be faced by consumers in the form of expensive electricity in the field of generation.
The resolution said that privatization was not only against the interest of employees, but also against common consumers as the extensive costly electricity is the most fatal for consumers. There is a power tariff of up to Rs.17-18 per unit for domestic consumers in the private sector in Mumbai. If privatization is not stopped, expensive electricity will break the back of consumers. Leaders of power employees’ unions and engineers associations attended the conference.