Kurukshetra: Power employees and engineers across Haryana have announced a three-day statewide strike from Aug 11 to 13, accusing the state govt of pursuing “backdoor privatisation” of the electricity distribution sector.A joint forum of four major unions has served a strike notice to the chief minister, protesting the proposed grant of a parallel electricity distribution licence to Eleven Power Private Limited in Gurgaon and Nuh, the creation of a separate Haryana Agri Discom and the rollout of smart meters.The nine-page strike notice has been signed by leaders of the Haryana Power Engineers Association (HPEA), AHPC Worker Union, HSEB Worker Union, and HPC SC/ST & BC Employees Union.Ravinder Ghanghas, general secretary of HPEA, said the proposed reforms were aimed at privatising power distribution and would weaken public electricity network. The unions have demanded that the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) halt the process of granting a parallel distribution licence to Eleven Power Private Limited and that the state withdraw the smart metering programme.The forum also questioned the proposal to create Haryana Agro Discom, arguing the unbundling of the erstwhile Haryana State Electricity Board into separate corporations had failed to arrest financial losses despite promises of improved efficiency.The unions alleged that employees of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN), Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Ltd (HVPNL) and Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (HPGCL) continue to work under difficult conditions while their long-pending demands remain unresolved.Baljit Beniwal said restructuring of HVPNL and HPGCL was still pending despite a sharp increase in workload, adding that employees had been left with no option but to resort to industrial action.Backing the protest, the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) opposed the proposed parallel distribution licensing system, contending that allowing private firms to use infrastructure created by state-owned discoms would erode the financial viability of public utilities.
