Ludhiana: PSPCL employees warn of mass leave protest
Employees said their frustration stems from a meeting chaired by power minister Harbhajan Singh ETO on June 2 at the PSPCL guest house in Mohali, during which several demands were agreed upon
Agitated by the continued delay in issuing official notifications for the demands accepted during the June 2 meeting in Mohali, electricity workers already observing a strict “work-to-rule” campaign, staged a protest on Sunday, as a part of the state level demonstration. During this, the protesting employees warned that if the state government fails to act on its commitments, they will go on a mass leave protest from August 11 to 13.
The protest is being jointly led by several associations including the PSEB Employees Joint Forum, Bijli Mulazam Ekta Manch Punjab, Association of Junior Engineers, Grid Sub Station Employees Union, Powercom and Transco Pensioners Union (AITUC Punjab), and the Pensioner Welfare Federation.
Employees said their frustration stems from a meeting chaired by power minister Harbhajan Singh ETO on June 2 at the PSPCL guest house in Mohali, during which several demands were agreed upon. However, nearly two months later, they allege that the power management has deliberately delayed issuing the necessary notification and beginning the implementation process.
The unions have flagged several key issues, including the non-payment of the pending 13% dearness allowance, non-restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, unresolved salary and pension anomalies, unpaid arrears, and what they term as the ‘stealth’ privatisation of the power sector. Protesters also criticised the delay in compensating families of workers who died during last year’s paddy season, the lack of a cashless treatment facility for injured employees, and the imposition of Central Pay Scales in place of the power corporation’s agreed scales.
Further grievances include a rise in workplace fatalities, politically motivated transfers, denial of promotion-linked benefits, and the continued exploitation of in-house contract workers due to non-regularisation. Pensioners are particularly upset over a monthly deduction of ₹200 under the development tax, calling it arbitrary and unjustified.
Union leaders have stated that if the government fails to respond promptly, the responsibility for any disruption in electricity services during the mass leave protest period will lie entirely with the state government and the power corporation’s management.
