POWER EMPLOYEES AND ENGINEERS HAVE DECIDED GO ON A TWO­DAY NATIONWIDE STRIKE IN JANUARY 2019, AGAINST THE ELECTRICITY (AMENDMENT) BILL

PATIALA: A meeting of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE), presided by All India Power Engineers Federation chairman Shailendra Dubey, was organised on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by multiple trade unions and associations including the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), All India Federation Of Power Diploma Engineers (AIFOPDE), Electricity Employees Federation Of India (EEFI), All India Federation Of Electricity Employees (AIFEE), Indian National Electricity Employees Federation (INEWF), All India Power Men Federation (AIPF) and TNEBWPU.

The power sector employees and engineers have decided go on a two-day nationwide strike on January 8 and 9, 2019, against the Electricity (Amendment) Bill of 2014 and the privatisation move.

The National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers members termed the amendment draft ‘dangerous.’ They said that the proposed changes were aimed at benefitting only the big power companies.

The National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers further alleged that the draft, which has been sent for review to all states, will result in a steep hike in power tariff, thus making it unaffordable for the middle class, farmers and the poor.

All states across India give subsidised electricity to different categories of consumers, including farmers. “This is one of the primary reasons why many distribution companies across country are in a huge debt at the moment. If a consumer gets the subsidy directly in their bank accounts under the DBT, the central government expects that the Discoms will not accumulate more debt,” the attendees said.

All India Power Engineers Federation spokesperson VK Gupta said that the motive behind the said Bill is to create scope of business for private enterprises in power distribution, without any investment.

“They will be given separate profitable segments such as sale of electricity to major industries, commercial establishments, railways splitting from unremunerative loss making segments such as rural households and agricultural consumers,” he added.

The said Bill aims at segregating the distribution of power into carriage (the distribution network carrying the electricity to consumers) and supply (or the sale of electricity to consumers), the representatives of different unions said.

“The government will lay down wires that carry electricity up to the consumer, while private companies will do the actual selling of electricity. This move is intended to separate out the more profitable aspects of distribution that can then easily be taken over by the private players,” they added.