Report by Mazdoor Ekta Committee (MEC) correspondent
Electricity workers in Rajasthan came out on the streets to demand that the privatization of electricity should be stopped. On 25 November 2024, electricity workers boycotted work and staged a sit-in protest outside assistant engineer offices across the state. The workers handed over a memorandum of demands to subdivision officers and assistant engineers. This struggle is being led by the Rajasthan Electricity Joint Struggle Committee. Workers are demanding that privatization of the department should be stopped, OPS should be implemented, contract system should be terminated, and new employees should be recruited.
On 22 November 2024, a meeting of the Rajasthan Electricity Joint Struggle Committee was held at the Urja Bhavan in Jaipur. Many workers’ unions of the electricity department attended the meeting. In this meeting, a call was given to fight against the privatization of electricity and in the interest of employees.
Electricity workers participating in the protest said that currently, most of the work in the three electricity companies (generation, transmission and distribution companies) is being done by private companies hired on contract. They said that due to privatization, there is a delay in agricultural connections, the brunt of which is being borne by farmers.
Rajasthan Electricity Joint Struggle Committee said that on 29 November, employees of the state electricity department will stage a sit-in protest at the Collectorate and submit a memorandum to the District Collector addressed to the Chief Minister and Energy Minister.
The committee said that the government is adopting different models and processes to promote privatization in electricity generation, transmission and distribution. Privatization is harming not only the economic interests of the state but also the interests of the general public, farmers and workers. The government is promoting private participation by contracting out profitable grids, which the Committee is opposing. This will further increase the losses of the government transmission corporation. The Committee said that if their demands are not met, a state-wide agitation will be launched.