Power supply crisis increases in UP as Electricity Dept staff continue protest against Privatisation
"After the UPPCL management turned down our reform proposal, we have asked all the power personnel to begin the full day work boycott from Monday as per the pre-declared plan," said Shailendra Dubey, chairman of the All-India Power Engineers Federation
New Delhi: As the power engineers and employees in Uttar Pradesh boycotted their work against the privatisation of power distribution company Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited continued for the second day on Tuesday, leaving many parts of the state without electricity.
On Monday (October 5), Arvind Kumar, the chairman of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) refused to sign the agreement that was reached with Power Minister Shrikant Sharma and the Power Employees Sangharsh Committee. After this development, the employees said their boycott of work would continue.
According to reports, for now the electricity is being supplied from Martinpurwa to VVIP area. For the last 22 hours, VVIP sub-center Cooper Road has been operating from Martinpurwa. But it has been said that if there is a disturbance in the Martinpurwa source, then there may be an electricity crisis in the entire area. From Martinpurwa, electricity is supplied to the ministers’ residences including the chief minister and the deputy chief minister.
Under the agreement, the employees were given a chance to reduce the power deficit and it was agreed that the privatisation of Purvanchal Power Distribution Corporation would be postponed till March next year. Subsequently, the Power Employees Sangharsh Committee announced the withdrawal of the movement. However, the UPPCL chairman refused to sign the agreement, after which the power employees decided to continue with their protests.