Power employees, engineers to boycott work on Feb. 3

Employees working in all power utilities in the State have decided to boycott work for a day on February 3 against the privatisation policies of the Centre in the energy sector.

The protest boycott of duties would be in response to the nationwide call given by the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE). The Telangana unit of the body has announced its decision on Monday alleging that the Centre was conspiring to hand over the power distribution business to the corporate companies close to the BJP-led government at the Centre to deny any subsidy to any category of consumers.

The committee has alleged that the Centre was going ahead with its privatisation plans in spite of witnessing the adverse impact of handing over the distribution business to private players on several categories of consumers including the poor and middle class domestic, agriculture and allied sectors consumers. The Uttar Pradesh government had withdrawn the privatisation plans following a united struggle by employees and such opposition was required now in every State.

The boycott of work would be taken up with the demand of withdrawal of standard bidding documents for privatisation of distribution business along with Electricity Amendment Bill, withholding privatisation measures in some States and Union Territories, bringing back al power utilities in a State under one umbrella as it was in the past and scrapping contributory pension scheme.