UP power employees plan fresh protests after 100 days of agitation

The Uttar Pradesh Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti has announced a fresh wave of protests against the privatisation of the power sector, culminating in a statewide rally in Lucknow on April 9.

The decision came after a meeting of the committee’s central office-bearers here on Saturday, marking the completion of 100 consecutive days of agitation.

“Ahead of the rally, power employees will hold mega panchayats in Meerut on March 24 and Kanpur on March 27. A large-scale demonstration is planned at Shakti Bhawan in Lucknow and all district headquarters on March 10,” Sangharsh Samiti convenor Shailendra Dubey said. “From March 11 onwards, employees will stage protests across districts while submitting memorandums to public representatives.”

The Samiti voiced opposition to the large-scale termination of contractual employees, accusing the power corporation of accelerating privatisation efforts. It alleged that despite the Electricity Reform Act 1999 and the Transfer Scheme 2000, regular employees were being compelled to install meters at their residences.

“March is the peak period for revenue collection by power employees, yet the corporation’s decisions are creating unnecessary industrial unrest by terminating contractual staff and imposing new conditions on regular employees,” Dubey said, demanding the immediate rollback of termination orders and the reinstatement of dismissed workers.

The committee also warned against any move to end subsidised electricity benefits for employees under the pretext of privatisation. It stated that if meters were forcibly installed at employees’ residences, the workforce would resist collectively.

The meeting was attended by leaders including Jitendra Singh Gurjar, Girish Pandey, Mahendra Rai, PK Dixit, Suhail Abid, Rajendra Ghildiyal, DK Mishra, Jawaharlal Vishwakarma, Chandra Bhushan Upadhyay, RY Shukla, Chhotelal Dixit, Devendra Pandey, and others.