Uttar Pradesh Power Employees Plan Office Boycott Over Privatization, Management Threatens to Dismiss From Service

The Government of India and various state governments are privatisating various government companies in order to enhance efficiency and generate more revenue. Now, the Uttar Pradesh Government is planning to privatise the Electricity Department but the employees have announced protest against privatisation. Employees have announced if privatisation progresses then they will boycott work.

The Vidyut Karamchari Samyukta Sangharsh Samiti has announced a work boycott starting from May 29 in protest against the privatization of Purvanchal and Dakshinchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam. However, many of the unions connected to this committee have not yet made a final decision about whether they will support or join the protest.

Two major engineer associations will be holding important meetings on Sunday to decide if they will participate in the boycott. These meetings have become the center of attention as the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has taken a strict stand against any strike or disruption in services.

In fact, the power corporation management has warned that employees who take part in the strike or cause any disruption in electricity supply could face direct dismissal from service. Because of this strict warning, employee unions are in a dilemma about joining the protest.

The High Power Committee of the State Electricity Council Junior Engineers Organization is scheduled to meet on Sunday. The main agenda of this meeting is to decide whether to support the boycott or not.

On the same day, the Central Executive Committee of the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Council Engineers Association will also meet. This meeting will also focus on the boycott starting from May 29, and any future actions or programs will be decided here.

To prevent the protest from gaining momentum, the UPPCL management held a meeting with the State Electricity Council Junior Engineers Organization on Saturday. During the meeting, UPPCL Chairman Dr. Ashish Kumar Goyal requested the engineers’ organization to stay away from the protest.

The meeting was held at Shakti Bhawan, and it lasted for about one and a half hours. During the discussion, the chairman assured the employee representatives that the planned reforms in the power sector will not harm employee interests. He said that matters such as promotions, retirement benefits, service conditions, and concessional electricity facilities will be fully protected.

Dr. Goyal further added that the privatization of Purvanchal and Dakshinchal would be done with full legal protection for employees, and no one’s rights or benefits would be affected. He appealed to all employees to cooperate with the reforms and focus on the development of the power sector and the state, ensuring that consumers do not suffer because of the protests.

The Junior Engineers’ Organization said they would announce their final decision after the Sunday meeting. Meanwhile, on Saturday, members of the Vidyut Karamchari Samyukta Sangharsh Samiti burnt copies of the dismissal orders issued by the Power Corporation. They expressed anger over the threats of dismissal for participating in the work boycott.

Union leaders accused the Chairman of creating industrial unrest and pushing employees into a strike situation. They even demanded that the Chief Minister remove the Chairman from his position.

The Sangharsh Samiti also made serious allegations about corruption. They claimed that the tenure of Finance Director Nidhi Kumar Narang was extended to carry out scams during the privatization process of power companies.

Additionally, Power Corporation General Manager (IR) Pradeep Kumar and Generation Corporation GM (HR) AK Seth were accused of threatening committee officials with disciplinary actions and police cases.