tna January 05, 2006
| Over 16,000 power sector workers in Bihar have decided to go on a state-wide indefinite strike from January 5 against the decision of the Nitish Kumar government to unbundle the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) and hand over the Kanti power station to NTPC. |
| The strike comes at a time when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is preparing to go to Hyderabad to ask non-resident Indians to invest in Bihar. |
| The decision to go on an indefinite strike was taken at an emergency meeting of the coordination committee of the Bihar State Electricity Employees Union and State Electricity Engineers Association today, BL Yadav, its convener, said. |
| Official sources said the decision to unbundle the BSEB and form six companies was taken at a cabinet meeting late last evening. The move is being viewed as a precursor to privatisation of the power sector. |
| The BSEB has just 489,098 legal consumers and is plagued by theft of electricity. It is planning to restructure itself to cope with the surge in demand that the rural electrification programme of the Centre will inevitably usher in. |
