As the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy, headed by veteran BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, is scheduled to hold its first meeting on the controversial Electricity (Amendment) Bill next Thursday, workers in the power sector — production and distribution companies and departments — have threatened an indefinite strike if the Bill were passed in Parliament. The National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE), an umbrella organisation of trade unions representing 27 lakh employees in the sector, has also decided to send a memorandum to Mr. Pal, requesting him to hear them before pushing the Bill in the committee.
The NCCOEEE had recently held a protest against the Bill. Its convenor Prasanta N. Chowdhury said the Standing Committee has not held any discussions with the workers or the consumers, who are the biggest stakeholders in the sector. “Any unilateral action to get the Electricity (Amendment) Bill passed in Parliament without taking the electricity employees and engineers across the country into confidence will be strongly opposed and all 27 lakh electricity employees and engineers of the country will be forced to resort to nationwide strike in protest against the move,” he said.
M.G. Suresh Kumar, Secretary of Electricity Employees Federation of India, a constituent of the NCCOEEE, said the recent strikes by power distribution employees in Puducherry and Uttar Pradesh are indications that workers are agitated against the steps to privatise the distribution companies. “In both the States, hours after beginning the strike, power supplies were affected and both governments suspended the privatisation move. It is a lesson for the Centre,” he said.
Mr. Kumar said that detailed representations have been given to Mr. Pal and his predecessor and JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan against the Bill. “We are yet to get any response from the panel. The Centre had said it will not rush through the Bill and that the panel will hear all stakeholders. But we haven’t received any information yet,” he added.
A source in the panel said it is yet to begin the proceedings on the Bill. Mr. Ranjan was recently replaced by Mr. Pal after a reshuffle of the panel. The JD(U) had quit NDA to join the UPA camp recently.
The NCCOEEE also appealed to Chief Ministers of States and Union Territories to strongly oppose the Bill in the larger interest of the energy sector and electricity consumers. “The matter of giving choice to consumers through Electricity (Amendment) Bill is completely wrong. In fact, through this amendment, the Centre is going to hand over electricity distribution to private corporates to supply electricity through the existing network of Government discoms,” Mr. Chowdhury said.
“Through this amendment Bill, electricity is not going to be cheaper for the common consumer in any way. The main reason for this is that 80 to 85% of the cost of power is the cost of power purchase and the power purchase agreements are already running for 25 years. So there is not going to be any reduction in the power purchase value. It is clear that the public is being deceived by talking about competition,” he added.
