ALL INDIA POWER ENGINEERS FEDERATION
Press Note February 16,2024
Power Employees & Engineers Held Massive Demonstration across the Country against Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 & Privatisation Policies.
On the call of National Co-ordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) lacs of Power Employees & Engineers held massive demonstration and protest meetings today at all State Capitals, Power utilities headquarters and projects to press against anti-people measures, Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 and privatisation policies of the Central /State Governments.
Shailendra Dubey Chairman AIPEF & Rathnakar Rao Secretary General, AIPEF told that massive demonstrations were held at Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Trivendrum, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patiala, Shimla, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Jammu, Srinagar, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Raipur, Pune, Mumbai, Vadodara, Rajkot, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Shillong, Ranchi, Patna and at many major thermal power stations.
Shailendra Dubey said that demands of scrapping the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 have not been adhered to even after the written commitment of the government to Samyukta Kisan Morcha. On the contrary, prepaid smart meters are unlawfully installed in the consumers premises towards curbing the rights of universal access to electricity. Tariff based competitive bidding has been prescribed for installation of transmission substations as further steps towards privatisation of the power sector.
Ministry of Power, Government of India is continuing with its privatization agenda of Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 through the Electricity (Amendment) Rules. The Ministry has been issuing notifications called the Electricity (Amendment) Rules for the last more than one year. This exercise is being done in the name of exercise of powers conferred by section 176 of the Electricity Act 2003.
Power Employees & Engineers noted with grave concern that in total refutation of all democratic forms of peoples’ protest and resistance struggle, the Government of India is going ahead to sell off national assets to private hands in the name of NMPL. This will lead to a deep crisis in the national economy and more hardship for the people through immediate and future days to come.
Shailendra Dubey
Chairman
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