Strong opposition to Assam government's move to privatize Power sector

LAKHIMPUR: Responding to the clarion call of the National Co-ordination Committee of Electrical Employees and Engineers (NCCEEE), the electricity employees, engineers and pensioners of Lakhimpur district boycotted their service and carried for strike from Wednesday, strongly opposing the government's moves taken in order to privatize the power sector of the nation and in support of their various demands.

In this connection, the aggrieved electricity employees staged a 24-hour long sit-in at the office premises of the Sub-Divisional Engineer, North Lakhimpur Electrical Sub-Division from 6 am on Wednesday to 6 am on Thursday. The agitation programme was organized under the banner of the Co-Ordination Committee of the Electricity Employees, Engineers and Pensioners, North Lakhimpur unit.

By staging the protest, the organization demanded the government to scrap the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020, to withdraw the Standard Bidding Documents wherein the objectives for the privatization of power sector were incorporated, to stop the handing over of the public power sectors under the States and Union Territories to private companies, to close the private license and franchise system in the power sector, to unify the fragmented electricity distribution, production and transportation sectors under the States and Union Territories like KESB Limited and HPSEB Limited, to withdraw the anti-worker policies, to withdraw the new pension policies and to retain the old pension policies, to increase the own electricity production of Assam, to bring all outsourcing 33/KV power distribution sub-centres back to the APDCL and to stop the fresh outsourcing of the same, to stop the compulsory retirement system in the power sector, to regularize the jobs of all the contractual and temporary electricity employees following the example set in Telangana, to fill up all the vacant posts under the Electricity Department by initiating regular appointment process, to upgrade the electricity employees, including the employees of Grade III and IV posts, and to repeal the contentious anti-farmer acts. The protesters displayed placards in support of their demands and submitted separate memoranda to the higher authorities concerned.

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