Bizmen to gherao PSERC officials

Ludhiana: The city businessmen on Friday held a meeting at the office of Janta Nagar Small Scale Manufacturers Association (JSMA) and decided to gherao the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) officials visiting Ludhiana on Monday.
The industrialists are furious over the hike in various charges of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), that was recently approved by the PSERC.
The PSERC officials will be in town on Monday to preside over a meeting with industrial and domestic consumers to take feedback on electricity rates for the new financial year, when the industrialists are expected to gherao them to register their protest with the hike.
The businessmen on Friday also met the new chief engineer of the PSPCL and shared various issues being faced by them.
Speaking on the issue, Jaswinder Singh Thukral , president of JSMA said, “After sanctioning the increase in the PSPCL’s schedule of charges like meter rent and meter security, the anti-people face of PSERC has been exposed once again. The entire PSERC office runs on the taxpayers’ money and this office has become a hub for harassing us by coming out with draconian orders. Several times, common people and industrialists have tried to meet the officials at their head office, but they are not given time.”
“Now when these officials are coming to Ludhiana on Monday, that too with the intention of increasing the rates of power in Punjab, we will not allow them to hold any meeting here,” he added.
The meeting of PSERC officials on Monday is expected to take place at PSPCL’s guest house at Ferozepur Road.
Thukral claimed that besides industrialists, a large number of domestic consumers would also join this protest and gherao the officials. He asked the PSERC to “refrain” from attempting to hike power rates in the state.
Others present in the meeting included prominent industrialists Inderjit Singh, Rajinder Singh Kalsi, Swinder Singh Hunjan, Sumesh Kocchar, Harbhajan Singh Kainth and Sanjeev Kumar.