Employees and contractual workers of state power companies – MSEDCL, Mahagenco and Mahatransco – called off their strike on Wednesday following assurance from Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that the companies will not be privatised and employees’ kalyan would be safeguarded “at all costs”.
The employees had gone on a three-day strike to protest against private company Adani Electricity seeking parallel licence for power distribution from Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).
“I would like to make it crystal clear that there is no question of privatisation of any power company. On the contrary, the state government has planned to invest Rs 55,000 crore in these companies in the next three years,” Fadnavis said.
Maharashtra State Electricity Workers’ Federation President Mohan Sharma said, “The minister told us that the government will file its objection in the MERC against Adani seeking licence for power distribution… Moreover, a fund of Rs 55,000 crore will be given to the three state-run power companies in order to make them stronger and more efficient. Besides, the demand for recruitment of 40,000 contractual workers through a special scheme was accepted. Therefore, the strike was called off.”
Sharma said that Fadnavis has given the assurance that no action will be taken against employees for their participation in the strike.
While terming the strike as an outcome of “miscommunication”, Fadnavis, addressing the media, said, “The employees’ unions told us that states like Odisha and Delhi have allowed privatisation in power sector. But we are not going to do that.”
Another issue which was raised during the meeting was related to the state government’s decision to set up an agriculture company.
“The purpose of the agriculture company is to provide a mechanism to assess the electricity used along with financial implications in the sector. At present, there is no system to ascertain the financial burden. Often, whenever there are losses, it is attributed to the agriculture sector. So, some factual assessment is necessitated to make the companies more efficient and accountable,” Fadnavis said.
Reassuring the unions about accommodating contract workers, Fadnavis said, “As a special case, we will consider their age relaxation and also put in place a system to ensure they receive their rightful wages.”
The state power companies had called a strike from Wednesday against Adani Electricity seeking a parallel power distribution licence for Bhandup, Mulund, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kharghar, Uran and Taloja of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
Commenting on day 1 of the strike, Union president Sharma said, “The strike was successful and seven power supply units were shut across the state. If the strike would have continued for another day, the state would have witnessed power cuts. However, there was no intention to trouble people through this strike. We were left with no option but to call a strike in order to reach out to the government.”
For its part, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) – popularly known as Mahavitaran – had kept private agencies on standby mode for operation and management of electricity distribution services in view of the strike.
The strike, which began midnight, affected power supply in several districts across Maharashtra, adversely impacting farmers in rural parts of the state besides hospitals and water supply in a few areas.
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