Press Release of Maharashtra State Electricity Employees, Engineers, Officers Action Committee
(Translation of Marathi press release)
मराठी में प्रेस विज्ञप्ति भी नीचे उपलब्ध है।
Maharashtra State Electricity Employees, Engineers, Officers Action Committee
Press Release
Date: 27 July 2026
The Maharashtra State Electricity Employees, Engineers, Officers Action Committee has announced that key office-bearers and local representatives of unions will hold a one-day hunger strike/fasting protest on 5 August 2026 in front of the zonal offices of all three companies against the government and the management of MSEDCL, MSETCL, and MSPGCL regarding long-pending demands. Repeated correspondence has been made with the government and administration regarding the long-standing demands of employees across all three companies. Additionally, multiple requests have been made through the Action Committee to the Hon’ble Chief Minister and Energy Minister to grant time for negotiations. However, as no action has been taken on this matter, the Action Committee has clarified that it is forced to take a stance of protest.
The summary of the demands regarding which the Action Committee is reluctantly forced to protest is as follows:
1. Potential Franchisee Policy: MSEDCL has decided to hand over the electricity distribution system owned by the company in certain districts across Maharashtra to private companies on a franchisee basis. Earlier, the franchisee policy implemented by MSEDCL for electricity distribution in Jalgaon, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nagpur, and Malegaon completely failed, causing unnecessary financial burdens to MSEDCL, the direct impact of which fell on consumers. By re-implementing this failed franchisee policy, the MSEDCL administration is on the verge of pushing the company and consumers into financial distress. Unions of employees, engineers, and officers strongly oppose this. This hazardous franchisee policy should not be adopted again. Along with the financial exploitation of electricity consumers, this policy represents the back-door privatization of the distribution company. Therefore, this protest is being held to demand the cancellation of the franchisee policy.
2. The Maharashtra Government has divided MSEDCL to establish an independent Agricultural Solar Company for agricultural consumers. However, there is no clarity regarding this yet, and no mention has been made about what the employee structure will look like in this new company or regarding the terms and conditions of service for employees. Consequently, there is an atmosphere of confusion and fear among the employees, engineers, and officers of MSEDCL. Therefore, a bilateral agreement is necessary regarding what the service conditions and concessions for the employees, engineers, and officers of MSEDCL will be after division.
3. Efforts to list all three companies on the stock market and issue IPOs are underway at a rapid pace. MSEDCL and MSETCL have taken the lead in this regard, and the IPOs of these two companies will enter the market in the coming days. As this process marks the beginning of the privatization of these companies, the Action Committee opposes it and demands that this process be canceled immediately and that the government provide financial assistance to help all three companies stand on their own strength.
4. The Action Committee demands that the 7 power generation units of MSPGCL located at Nashik, Bhusawal, Khaparkheda, and Chandrapur should not be closed down and that new generation units based on modern technology be approved and commissioned in their place. Furthermore, to bring the entire power generation sector under state ownership, substantial expansion should be made in MSPGCL’s power generation domain.
5. MERC has passed an order approving the procurement of 1,600 MW of power from Adani Power Company. This directly implies that MSPGCL’s power generation units will have to be kept shut while expensive power is bought from Adani Power Company. The Action Committee opposes this and demands that the order passed by MERC in favor of Adani Power be challenged in the High Court.
6. The Maharashtra Government has decided to hand over Category-2 hydro-electric power generation plants owned by the state to private companies. The Action Committee opposes this and demands that these hydro-electric power generation plants should not be given to private companies and that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) be signed to retain them with MSPGCL. Prior to this, hydro-electric power plants were with the then MSEB and subsequently with MSPGCL, and they were and are being operated with utmost efficiency. Hence, when there is no need for a private company, the plan to give these generation plants to private companies is strongly opposed by the Action Committee.
7. The unnecessarily withheld performance-linked incentive / bonus for employees, engineers, and officers of all three companies should be declared immediately.
8. The approved pension scheme for employees, engineers, and officers of all three companies should be implemented immediately. As per BR 624, the administration of the then MSEB in 1999 had approved a pension scheme for employees, engineers, and officers on par with the Maharashtra Government. However, this scheme has not been implemented to date, and litigation is ongoing regarding it. The Action Committee strongly demands that the government and administration take the initiative to immediately stop litigation and apply the pension scheme to everyone.
9. Even before the restructuring program was implemented in MSEDCL, all unions pointed out the flaws in this program to the administration and warned that if this unilateral program of the administration was implemented as-is, revenue loss to the company was likely. However, ignoring this, the administration stubbornly implemented this program, resulting in financial loss to the company. Therefore, the defective restructuring program unilaterally implemented in MSEDCL should be canceled, and the system of collective working methods should be improved and executed.
10. Nearly two years have passed since the pay revision agreement was signed. However, the administration has still failed to rectify the anomalies in the wage hike. An Anomaly Committee was formed regarding these errors, but because meetings of this committee have not taken place, the anomalies remain unresolved. The Action Committee demands that a meeting of the Anomaly Committee be held and the wage hike anomalies be rectified quickly.
11. The Action Committee demands that the deduction of two days’ salary—taking two days of absence into consideration for the one-day 24-hour strike held on October 9, 2025—be canceled and converted into casual leave. The Action Committee is not responsible for the one-day strike that had to be conducted on October 9; rather, this one-day strike was forced upon the unions due to the obstinate stance of the administration. The unions have brought this to the attention of the Hon’ble Chief Minister.
12. The company administration has maintained a vindictive attitude regarding this forced strike and initiated punitive actions as well as legal proceedings against the members of the Action Committee. The Action Committee demands that all such actions be stopped and revoked.
13. For the operation of 333 newly constructed sub-stations by MSEDCL, as per BR 2030, these sub-stations are being operated through outsourced operators—meaning through private agencies. This practice is highly improper and will lead to the exploitation of these workers. Furthermore, having trained and experienced operators to run sub-stations is essential. Therefore, the Action Committee demands that operating these 333 newly constructed sub-stations through outsourced operators be canceled, and permanent operator posts be created and filled here.
14. In MSETCL, a conspiracy is being plotted through TBCB to hand over Extra High Voltage (EHV) sub-stations and high voltage transmission lines into the hands of private companies, laying a trap for the company’s privatization. The Action Committee strongly opposes this and demands that this entire process be canceled.
15. There are numerous flaws in the staff setup approved by MSETCL, and the administration has been requested multiple times to rectify these flaws. However, no response has been received yet. The Action Committee demands that discussions be held to revise and rectify this flawed staff setup.
The Action Committee was forced to take the decision to protest to resolve the above-mentioned issues and for the just demands of power employees, engineers, and officers. Please note that the management of all three companies will be held responsible for the situation arising due to this protest.
Yours sincerely,
Maharashtra State Electricity Employees, Engineers, Officers Action Committee
