Employees of all power utilities affiliated to several unions and associations staged a protest here on Tuesday under the aegis of National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) condemning “brutal lathicharge” on peacefully protesting Bihar Electricity Employees at Patna on January 27.
Leaders of electricity employees associations and unions of Telangana G. Sai Babu, E. Sridhar, P. Ratnakar Rao, P. Sadanandam, B.C. Reddy, B. Kumara Chary, P. Anil Kumar, Laxmi Narayana, Karunakar Reddy, M. Nehru, M. Ramesh, Kumara Swamy, Akbar, J. Moses, Tulasi Nagarani and Jyothi Rani also condemned the suspension of Surendra Kumar, general secretary of Bihar Power Engineers Association.
The Telananga employees leaders said the Bihar electricity employees had organised a protest opposing privatisation and multiple licenses in power sector. They alleged that the management of Bihar power utilities have suspended Mr. Surendra Kumar illegally.
They stated that the Centre had made its intentions clear during the budget presentation in Parliament recently to privatise the power distribution business completely within the next three years in the name of installing smart prepaid meters at the cost of consumers and the power utilities. The idea was segregation of carriage and content to ensure multiple players in profitable areas, leaving unprofitable areas to the Discoms.
Instead of creating employment the Centre was planning to reduce the employees working in the power utilities by over a lakh across the country, they alleged.