MARGAO
The All India Federation of Electricity Employees has resolved to oppose the Central government’s privatisation efforts. To this end, the Federation will mobilise all unions and associations of power workers and engineers at a meeting in Nagpur on February 23. The meeting will decide on a joint, all-India action against the Central government’s privatisation policy.
AIFEE General Secretary Mohan Sharma informed that the recent effort of the Central government to achieve privatisation target is to introduce the prepaid smart meter project in the entire country and allow private companies and corporates to take over the regime for 93 months.
“This prepaid smart meter policy is against the interest of power consumers, public and power workers. It will add to unemployment of lakhs and lakhs of employees working in the sector,” he said.
Sharma said on February 1, 2025, the Central government has finalised the tender of Goenka Company, facilitating the takeover of the complete power distribution of Chandigarh where the workers are agitating. The Goenka Company, immediately after taking over, have compulsorily retired 800 workers and engineers, he said.
Saying the Central government from the year 2014 has continuously tried to privatise the three sectors of power utility i.e. generation, transmission and distribution. Sharma said, “to achieve this the Central government has brought five times in 2014, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022 to enact the Electricity (amendment) Bill 2022.”
He added: “The power workers and engineers jointly fought against these provisions and had gone on all-India level strikes twice and compelled the Central government to withhold the Electricity (amendment) Bill 2022. The Central government could not pass the bill in Parliament hence now applying backdoor measures to privatise the power utilities through joint venture, franchisee, issuing tenders to privatise distribution and transmission, parallel licence, and prepaid smart meters, etc.”
