Power sector employees, engineers to hold 4-day ‘Satyagrah’ from Aug 3 against Electricity Amendment Bill

Lucknow: Power sector employees and engineers will be holding a four-day ‘satyagrah‘ at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from Tuesday against the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021.

On the call of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees & Engineers (NCCOEEE), power employees will hold the ‘satyagrah’ against the unilateral announcement of the Central government to pass the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, in the current monsoon session of Parliament, All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) Chairman Shailendra Dubey said.

He said power sector employees of the Northern region will participate on August 3, the Eastern and the North Eastern on August 4, the Western Region on August 5, and the Southern Region on August 6.

He said that they are agitating against the unilateral approach of the central government to rush through the Bill in Parliament.

Many provisions of Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021, are anti-people and anti-employee and if enacted it will have far-reaching adverse consequences, he said.

The Bill should not be passed in Parliament in haste and it should be referred to the standing committee on energy of Parliament, he said, adding that main stakeholders of the power sector including consumers and electricity employees should be given proper opportunity to express their viewpoint on the Bill before placing it in Parliament.

He said that after four days of satyagraha at Delhi about 1.5 million power employees and engineers will resort to a one-day strike/work boycott on August 10, across the country.

He added that, if the government places the Bill before August 10, then strike will be preponed and all power employees and engineers shall be forced to proceed on strike the same day when Bill is tabled in Parliament.