15 lakh govt officials to boycott work tomorrow against privatisation of UP power discom

Fifteen lakh electricity department employees including junior engineers, sub-divisional officers, executive engineers and superintending engineers will go on a day-long boycott of work on Monday to oppose the proposal of privatising power distribution company Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited. In case the central government does not take back its decision, the boycott would be extended for an indefinite period, they warned. The district convener of Vidhyut Karamchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti Avdhesh Kumar told PTI on Sunday that the central government is bent upon privatising the power sector. The protest would be held from morning to evening on Monday and would continue till the demand is not fulfilled.




“The privatisation of the power sector remained unsuccessful in Orissa, Delhi, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Jalgaon, Ujjain, Gwalior, Bhagalpur, Gaya and Muzaffarpur including other places of the country. Privatisation is against the masses because electricity would become costlier. Only business houses would be benefitted. Almost all associations of engineers would participate in the protest,” Kumar said. The district administration has chalked out a plan to address any problem related to power supply, Ghaziabad DM Ajay Shankar Pandey said, adding that 24 hours uninterrupted supply would be ensured at any cost.

The district has been divided into six zones with deputy collectors along with technical officers deployed to observe the situation in all 149 electricity sub-stations and 22 distribution stations. The additional district magistrate (ADM) city and ADM (executive) officials would monitor the situation in the city and rural area, respectively. Police have also been alerted to check any untoward situation at all the sub-stations of the district. The district’s chief development officer (CDO) has been appointed as the nodal official to look after the whole district during the boycott. Also, diploma graduate technicians have been deputed in all sub-stations to keep power supply going without any disruptions, DM Pandey added.