People's Democracy

  Powermen Withdraw Two-Day Strike Following Govt Assurance

FOLLOWING written assurance from the government to consider the demands raised by them, the powermen under the banner of National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) have decided to withdraw the proposed two-day country-wide strike on May 31 and June 1, 2005. This emerged from a meeting of (NCCOEEE) delegation with the union power minister P M Sayeed on May 17 at New Delhi. 

The Coordination Committee had met the power minister earlier on May 2 and conveyed its demands and concerns regarding Electricity Act 2003, on which issue the strike was proposed to take place. The government sought 15 days time to study the presentations made by the committee. Consequently, this meeting took place on May 17, which saw detailed discussion. The Coordination Committee raised the following issues with the minister:

1. Unbundling of SEBs

2. Central Government’s role in rural electrification to address the issue of urban-rural divide

3. The word “elimination of cross subsidy” needed to be reviewed, and

4. Extension of date for reorganisation of SEBs

After thorough deliberations,both the government and NCCOEEE reached the following conclusions:

1. The government would consider taking suitable steps to address the concerns regarding the provision of elimination of cross-subsidies in the Act, though in the opinion of the government this issue has already been adequately addressed in the electricity policy.  Suitable amendment in the Act would be considered.

2. The centre’s role in the rural electrification activities would be suitably provided through an amendment in the Act.

3. In accordance with provision of Section 172(a) of the Electricity Act, the date shall be extended for a period of six months beyond June 9, 2005 for reorganisation/restructuring of SEBs.

4. During the next six months, the government of India shall continue the process of review of the provisions related to reoganisation/restructuring of SEBs in the Electricity Act, 2003 based on the status and impact of its implementation so far.

Following this, the NCCOEEE delegation held a meeting at 315, V P House at 3.30 PM and considered the government’s written assurance as above and decided to withdraw the proposed strike on May 31 & June 01, 2005.

The Committee thanked electricity employees and engineers who were agitating against the Electricity Act 2003 for their support and called upon them to be vigilant regarding implementation of the government’s assurances. It underlined the necessity of mounting a continuous pressure on the government to implement its assurances, and therefore an awareness campaign should be on the agenda to attract the attention of people towards the adverse impacts of the Act.

The delegation which met the minister comprised  E Balanandan, B S Meel (Electricity Employees Federation of India) A B  Bardhan, Himanshu, Chakradhar P Singh, Mohan Sharma (All India Federation of Electricity Employees)  Shailendra Dubey, M S Bajwa and Sunil Grover (All India Power Engineers Federation) S D Kushwaha, H N Mishra (All India Power Diploma Engineers Federation), Akhtar Hussain (Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyut Mazdoor Sangh) and K Ashok Rao( National Working Group on Power Sector). 

Besides the power minister, the  government side was represented by R V Shahi, secretary and Ajay Shankar, additional secretary in the ministry of power. (INN)