Lucknow power authority not to be handed over to workers

Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) Chairman and Principal Secretary (Energy) Ashok Khurana has not given consent to the control of operation of the Lucknow Electricity Supply Authority (LESA) to the Vidyut Karamchari Sanyukta Sangharsh Samiti (VKSSS), UP.

The VKSSS is a joint body of unions in the electricity sector and it asked for control of the LESA.

Khurana told Business Standard the crucial points of the plan had been accepted. However, operational control did not mean control of personnel, he said. Thus, the unions would have an advisory role but no control either over personnel or operation.

Union leader Shailendra Dubey said, "We made it clear that the executive officer would be from the regular engineering cadre and would be responsible for running the organisation."

On Khurana's view, he said government representatives should have discussion on the plan, but if the former did not want it the union too was not interested.

Earlier, in the case of the Kanpur Electricity Supply Company (Kesco), the committee of unions had decided to put forward its own proposal or had asked the government to hand over the company to them. But neither was their proposal accepted, nor was Kesco privatised.

This time, the proposal was formulated after an initiative by Khurana.