Thousands of employees of State power distribution companies observed a strike for the second consecutive day on Thursday to protest the outsourcing of operation and maintenance of 23 power sub-divisions in Haryana.
Defying Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), the protesting employees raised slogans against the State Government at various places for its decision to privatise the maintenance and operation in power sub-divisions.
The strike call for two days was jointly given by the All Haryana Power Corporation Workers Union and Haryana State Electricity Board Workers’ Union.
Even as the State Government had made arrangements to ensure uninterrupted power supply to consumers during the worker’s strike, the Government had a hard time to deal with the complaints of power disruptions at several places due to the absence of workers on Thursday.
Meanwhile, orders were issued at some places in the State to suspend contractual employees as they defied Government’s order to remain present in the offices during the period of strike.
A day before, the State Government had made it clear that it will adopt “no work, no pay” policy and action will be taken against those employees, where people face any inconvenience due to power disruption in their division. Special emergency teams were constituted to attend to the complaints promptly.
Haryana Government had already invoked Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to prevent disruption in power supply due to strike. Besides, the police was deployed at sub-stations and prohibitory orders under section 144 was imposed within 200 metres of circle offices.
The Joint Action Committee of Haryana power employees General Secretary Subhash lamba on Thursday said that they would be holding a meeting to decide the next course of action.
“The government should resolve their issue at the earliest,” he demanded.
The decision to proceed with the strike came after the talks between the employees unions of Haryana Power Utilities and the State Government had failed to yield result on Monday.
The power sector employees are also demanding filling up of 30,000 vacant posts, inquiry into “sharp rise in losses and debt” of power discoms.