Report by Kamgar Ekta Committee correspondent
The UP state government has proposed to hand over the operation and maintenance of the Panki and Jawaharpur power plants to private companies. Power workers have revealed that Rs. 14,000 crore of public money has been spent on Jawaharpur and Rs. 8,000 crore on Panki. Moreover, once these plants are privatised, power tariffs will be increased for private profit. Thus, this privatisation is an open loot of the people! To oppose this, electricity workers across the state will register their protest by wearing black ribbons on 13 May.
The Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukta Sangharsh Samiti (Electricity Employees Joint Struggle Committee), Uttar Pradesh, has expressed deep concern and strong opposition to the proposal to hand over the operations and maintenance (O&M) work of Panki (660 MW) and Jawaharpur (2×660 MW) thermal power plants to private companies through a unified tender. The Struggle Committee has warned that if a unilateral tender is issued to outsource the operations and maintenance work of Panki and Jawaharpur thermal power plants, the power employees will immediately come out of their workplaces and stage widespread protest demonstrations, and the statewide movement will be intensified.
In the meeting of the Core Committee of the Struggle Committee held on April 26, 2026, it was unanimously decided that this anti-people and anti-employee decision would be vehemently opposed.
The Struggle Committee stated that the ultra-modern units of Panki and Jawaharpur, based on super critical technology, are important power projects of the state, on whose construction thousands of crores of rupees from the public’s hard-earned money have been spent. Approximately ₹14,000 crore has been spent on the Jawaharpur project and about ₹8,000 crore on the Panki thermal power plant. In such a situation, handing over the operations and maintenance work of these projects to private companies is not only unjust but also against public interest.
The Struggle Committee alleged that such decisions would weaken the public sector and provide undue benefits to private companies. Privatization may lead to an increase in the cost of power generation, the direct burden of which will fall on the common consumers of the state.
The Struggle Committee has demanded from the management that the process of outsourcing the operations and maintenance work of Panki and Jawaharpur thermal power plants be stopped immediately with effect from now and the decision taken in this regard be revoked.
The Struggle Committee has warned that if this decision is not withdrawn, all power employees, contractual workers, junior engineers, and engineers of the state will be forced to come out of their workplaces and stage widespread protest demonstrations, for which the entire responsibility will lie with the management.
To draw the attention of the management and the government, on the coming May 13, 2026, power employees of all energy corporations in the state will register their protest by tying black bands throughout the day. Even after this, if the decision is not withdrawn, the Struggle Committee will launch a statewide widespread movement.
The Struggle Committee has clarified that it is committed to fighting at every level to protect the interests of the state’s power system, employees, and the general public.