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Thousands of employees of electricity companies in Madhya Pradesh have defied the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to continue their agitation to press for their demands, including an end to the privatisation of the power sector in the state.
A top government official asserted that alternative arrangements have been put in place and there is no hindrance in power supply in the state. The government clamped ESMA two days ago, the senior official said.
ESMA is aimed at ensuring the delivery of certain essential services like public transport, health and power and prohibits employees involved in these key services from striking work. Those defying ESMA may faction action as per the rules.
The agitating employees belong to six organisations involved in electricity generation, transmission, distribution and power management in MP.
According to VKS Parihar, president of the United Forum for Power Employees and Associations, about 30,000 engineers and other employees of these companies have gone on an indefinite strike since Thursday.
MP Energy Department Principal Secretary Sanjay Dubey told PTI over the phone that alternative arrangements have been put in place. There is no hindrance in power supply now and steps have been taken for smooth delivery of power to all in future as well, he said.
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The official said they are holding talks at different levels with the agitating employees. If someone tries to disrupt power supply, we will be forced to take action, he said.
Parihar told PTI that they were against privatisation of the energy sector in MP, particularly a Joint Venture (JV) at a power generation station in Anuppur district.
He said about 45,000 outsourced employees are already doing various work at the power companies across the state.
We want pensions according to rules and regulations besides other things, he said.
Parihar claimed that their colleagues who had gone to power generation stations in MP before their strike began have not returned.
They have been asked to stay back. How long are they going to do this, he said, adding that the agitation will continue till their demands are met.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
