GEB workers fear Board may be privatised

Although the state government has clarified that the sweeping changes being affected in the Gujarat Electricity Board are not a precursor to privatisation of the organisation, employees are not convinced.

They see the move to reconstitute the state-owned GEB into production, transmission and distribution companies as a step towards privatisation.

The employees of Gujarat Electricity Board fear that their employment interests will be affected adversely in the near future if the state government opts for privatising the Board.

"According to the tri party agreement signed amongst the state government, board and joint action committee formed by all staff unions of board on October 13, 2003, the state government will have to pass the bill before going ahead for the privatization. However, the clause is not of any help for about 50,000 board employees. The state government can any day pass the resolution for privatisation of power company or companies," said B T Dalwadi, joint secretary of GEB Engineers Associations (GEA) and member of Joint Action Committee of staff unions.

GEA office bearers are also of the opinion that the possible privatization will not prove harmful only for board employees but also for the mass at large. The office bearers opined that the privatisation will improve the power sector but the cost of power for end user will also rise dramatically.

"The restructuring process of the board clearly shows gives the sign of privatisation of power sector sooner of later. The board employees are expecting that the state government will keep the interests of employees and end users in mind before privatisation," said Dalwadi.

However, the GEB management has assured the workers that they would not be adversely impacted by the recast in the company.

"At present, the senior management is charting out a formula for the allocation of assets and manpower for the new companies. We believe the division will not disturb either the quality of service or the human resource of the Board," said a GEB spokesperson.