State-level conventions were held on Thursday in different states by power sector engineers and employees to protest against the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021 and the indifferent attitude of the central government towards them. In Varanasi, UP power employees held a convention in the Prime Minister’s constituency in Varanasi and submitted a memorandum in his office. The conventions were also held in Bengaluru, Trichi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, and other state utility headquarters.

V K Gupta a spokesperson of All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) said that a four-member delegation of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE )led by Prashanta Chaudhary convener met Alok Kumar  Secretary Power on Tuesday and handed over a memorandum against the Electricity (Amendment ) Bill 2021. The other members of the delegation were Rathnakar Rao Secretary General AIPEF, Abhimanyu Dhankar, and Kuldeep Kumar.

The delegation asked the Power Secretary that why the employees and consumers are not being treated as stakeholders and the government is moving unilaterally without discussion with them. The Power Secretary claimed that the concerns of organizations have been considered already and the government does not want to proceed further through consultations and talks.

This has left power sector engineers and employees with no choice other than to vehemently oppose their endeavors to privatize the electricity distribution.

V K Gupta said that now it is Parliament’s responsibility to carefully deliberate the electricity (amendment ) bill 2021 whenever presented before it and a detailed scrutiny process by the standing committee on energy should be allowed. The bill  passed in a hurry may fail to achieve its intended outcomes.

The proposed reform is counterproductive and would lead to denial of electricity to underprivileged and increase in tariff for domestic and agriculture consumers, benefitting only a few privileged sections of society.

Electricity is on the concurrent list and the states have played a  dominant role in electrification. The Modi government  is trying to tilt  this delicate balance of authority when it comes to the draft Electricity
Amendment Bill, 2021. The Electricity (Amendment )Bill 2021  seeks to de-license power distribution to reduce entry barriers for private players in the name of  creating competition

In Mumbai two private companies Adani and Tata supply power to the city. Both companies have their own generating stations and still the tariff in Mumbai is one of the highest in the country.

The study carried out by Prayas (energy) group Pune shows that the results of  operationalization of parallel licensing in Mumbai has been contrary to the  expectation, as it has taken place with a series of unnecessary litigations, skyrocketing expenses, steep consumer tariffs, and regulatory failure. This  exposes how competition has failed in Mumbai and how consumers have suffered.
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The power engineers and employees are not against reforms in the power sector. However, reforms don’t mean that the the power sector will have to be privatized, They demand  to go for all-round development in the power sector while keeping its public sector characteristics intact.