In the wake of a recent Central Government’s decision for disinvestment to reduce its stake in the Central PSUs, the employees across various units of NTPC led a protest march by wearing black badge on Wednesday.
On a call of NTPC Executives Federation of India (NEFI), the executives and non-executives of the Talcher Super Thermal Power Station at Kaniha came together to symbolically protest the decision. They held a gate meeting at the entry gate (Pragati Dwar) after duty hours and raised their apprehensions over the fate of the NTPC and their future.
The gathering was addressed by the NEFI general secretary Gokula Nanda Swain and members of Association of Power Executives (APEX). The non-executives associations also extended support to the move. Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) head Satya Nanda Sahoo also spoke on the occasion.
Notably, CPSUs are companies in which the direct holding of the Central Government is 51 per cent or more. There is a growing apprehension that following Government action, the NTPC will surrender its Maharatna status and will cease to be a PSU. Presently, there is planning to disinvest 10 per cent of the stake in NTPC by the NDA Government.
Similar protest march was also conducted in other NTPC power stations such as Korba, Ramagundam, Farrakka, Dadri, Kawas, Jhajjor and Faridabad, etc. The employees warned that in future the protest will be intensified if the Government does not withdraw its decision.
