There is no justification for privatizing power in Chandigarh  as this is  a profit-making utility with very low transmission and commercial losses said Shalindra Dubey Chairman All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF.) while  addressing a rally of the employees of the Chandigarh electricity department on Thursday.

The rally was addressed by the Prasanta Chaudhary convener National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers(NCCOEEEE), Padamjit Singh chief patron AIPEF, Subhash Lamba of EEFI, and others. The employees of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh also participated in the rally in a limited way.

Dubey said that the central government is grossly misleading the public by saying that electricity would be cheaper after privatization and there would be no change in service conditions of employees in the private sector. He said the department was generating profit for the past five years. Last year, the department had earned a profit of Rs258 crore and this year, Rs117 crore.

Prasanta Chaudhry condemned the privatisation policy of the government.He said the government hurriedly decided to privatise power distribution  in the UT during the lockd own period.Padamjit Singh Chief Patron AIPEF said that the electricity distribution system of UT Chandigarh is considered a high revenue, creamy utility with negligible agricultural and rural areas consumers.

The total sale of power in UT is 1782 million units and 50 % is used by domestic consumers and the balance by commercial and industrial users.

VK Gupta, spokesperson, AIPEF, said the government considered the lockdown as an opportunity to privatize the power departments of the UTs by bypassing public opinion and not giving any time to stakeholders to debate the matter. The power departments of the UTs had been forced to appoint consultants and complete the process during the lockdown period.

The draft Stanard Bidding Document (SBD) clearly mentions that the intention of the government is for encouraging and supporting the acceleration of private sector participation in power distribution. The mere transfer of ownership would not be sufficient to realize efficiency gains from the effort.