Around 15 lakh public-sector power employees plan to go on a two-day strike, from February 23 to 24, which would be observed across India. The employees’ union of the engineers for various government power bodies, the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), is protesting the Government’s decision to privatise various bodies.
In a statement, AIPEF announced that the striking employees associated with the union and the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees & Engineers (NCCOEEE) have had to resort to a two-day nationwide strike on February 23 and 24. The call was given by the All India Trade Unions.
The major reason behind the strike is to stop the Government from implementing privatisation policies on the PSUs. Other demands include repealing of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021, disregarding the idea of privatisation of the profit-making power departments of the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli Daman & Diu and Puducherry. The union is also demanding to integrate unbundled power utilities such as the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) in Kerala and the Himachal Prashed State Electricity Board (HPSEB) in Himachal Pradesh, and the implementation of the old pension scheme for all power employees. Another demand the protesting employees have is the regularisation of the employment of all outsourced workforce employed with power companies, as the Telangana government has already done.
