1 week Ago
Power employees in the state associated with Vidyut Karmchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti on Tuesday announced an indefinite work boycott from May 29 to protest against the proposed privatisation of Purvanchal and Dakshinanchal power distribution corporations. The decision was taken at a massive rally here attended by over thousands of electricity employees, followed by a general body meeting where a phased agitation plan was finalised. The strike, the Samiti warned, would continue until the privatisation proposal was withdrawn.
“The movement will begin with a public awareness campaign from April 16 to 30. This will be followed by a state-wide bike rally on May 1 (Labour Day), a relay hunger strike from May 2 to 9 at Shakti Bhawan in Lucknow, and a “work-to-rule” protest from May 14 to 19. A major demonstration is planned on May 20, followed by a daily three-hour work boycott from May 21 to 28,” convenor Shailendra Dubey said.
Addressing the rally, leaders from national power employee federations, including Shailendra Dubey (the chairman of All India Power Engineers Federation), P Ratnakar Rao (secretary general), and other representatives from states such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and West Bengal, extended full support to UP employees and warned of a nationwide agitation if the state government went ahead with the privatisation or attempted to suppress peaceful protests. The Samiti has also decided to submit memoranda opposing privatisation to all MPs and MLAs during the awareness campaign. In a resolution passed during the meeting, the Samiti cautioned the state government and power corporations against any retaliatory action against employees, warning that any such move would trigger an immediate indefinite strike.
The rally was addressed by several state and national leaders from electricity workers’ and engineers’ associations, including Jitendra Singh Gurjar, Girish Pandey, Mahendra Rai, Suhail Abid, and Rajendra Ghildiyal, among others. The UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad, Awadhesh Kumar Verma, also backed the employees’ agitation and demanded an immediate rollback of the privatisation move..
