- Power sector employees embark on four-day protest
- Strike action is due to planned Electricity Bill amendment
- Union says amendments are anti-employee
The National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees & Engineers (NCCOEEE) of India has embarked on a four-day protest in opposition to the announcement by the Central Government of the plan to pass the amended Electricity Bill. The power sector employees have called the Bill anti-employee and anti-people.
The Chairman, All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), Shailendra Dubey, said the workers were agitating against the many amendments to the Bill while speaking on the protest. He added that the Bill should be referred to the Standing Committee on Energy in the Parliament with stakeholders from the power sector given the opportunity to express their opinions on the proposed amendments.
He also stated that the proposed amendments to the Electricity Bill have far-reaching implications for electricity sector employees. The amendments include the plan to privatise the distribution subsector. According to Mr Dubey, the move to privatise distribution will result in the private power companies supplying electricity to only high-revenue earning industrial and commercial consumers, which in turn will drive state distribution companies to further bankruptcy.
Dubey also faulted the proposed move to abolish the cross-subsidy and to replace it with a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to consumers by the state governments. He stated that the move would snatch away access to electricity for farmers and poor domestic consumers.
Dubey also stated that at the end of the four-day protest, the 1.5 million power employees and engineers would embark on a one-day strike on August 10 across the country.