New Delhi: With Day 2 of work boycott by Electricity Department employees, the power supply crisis has deepened in the state, leaving many areas in the dark. The employees are bent on rollback of privatization of power discoms in the state, otherwise, the protest will continue for indefinite period, they warned.
About 15 lakh electricity department employees including junior engineers, sub-divisional officers, executive engineers and superintending engineers began the strike on Monday to oppose the proposal of privatising power distribution company – Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited.
Uttar Pradesh govt today released a long statement, underlining the need for privatization, what spurred it to take this decision and the difficulties it is facing in implementing reforms.
In the statement, state govt says it has drastically improved power supply in last 3 years, helping realize the dream of 24×7 electricity in many cities.
State govt said it launched several reforms at Power Corporation level also to optimize power supply, revenue generation and cutting losses and these measures are also yielding desired results.
“But, the Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited has been hesitant in taking up reforms and that’s precisely the reason behind lagging power service in this region,” the statement said categorically.
Despite this, government has been earmarking funds for its easy and efficient administration but the Corporation has not lived upto the expectations. Funds which could have been used for other public welfare measures are being exhausted in keeping the ‘loss-making unit’ afloat.
Therefore, the government initiated talks for privatisation of this power discom and also assured the employees that no decision in this regard will be taken without consultation or taking their opinion.
State government also reached out to concerned departments including UP Vidyut Karmchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti and sought their co-operation in improving revenue generation by plugging loopholes in power supply, transmission and bill generation but its plea went unheard.
It said that privatization is a long enduring process of 9-10 months. In the meantime, if employees could scale up their productivity, the loss-incurring corporation could see change in fortunes. It even offered to throw privatisation in cold storage, if the power discom turns profitable on its own.
It also put forward certain parameters for employees, as follows:
1) Employees must meet the monthly target of Fiscal year 2020-2021
2) Power employees including Vidyut Karmchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti should augment their efforts and UPPCL would review its progress every month
3) Privatization process of Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited will keep taking required approvals from required department but if target is achieved by 2021, it will be trashed, at whatever stage it may be.
“But, the UP Vidyut Karmchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti didn’t agree on any of these proposals and demanded a written declaration from the government that the corporation will not be privatized and no such step would be taken in future,” UP govt said in a statement today.
The statement adds, Sangharsh Samiti, on revenue collection, said it’s out of their purview, it’s the responsibility of management and they are here only to provide assistance.
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