Chandigarh: Powermen call one-day token strike

The call comes on the day the empowered committee on power privatisation gave its nod to the highest bid quoted by Eminent Electricity Distribution for the takeover of the electricity department

The UT Powermen Union, which is opposing the privatisation of the Chandigarh electricity department, has given a call for a one-day token strike on August 10.

Though necessary arrangements for maintaining the continuity of power supply have been made, chances of snags due to any untoward incident cannot be ruled out, said the administration.

The call comes on the day the empowered committee on power privatisation gave its nod to the highest bid quoted by Eminent Electricity Distribution (EED) for the takeover of the department.

In the financial bids opened on August 4, EED, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC), quoted a bid of around ₹871 crore against the reserve price of ₹175 crore. CESC is the flagship company of the Kolkata-based industrial and services conglomerate RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.

The report of the empowered committee will now be submitted with the UT administrator for his approval, which will be then forwarded to the Union government. The final decision will rest with the Union Cabinet.

Meanwhile, in response to the strike call, the administration said that the principle of “no work, no pay” will be strictly enforced. “The employees are, therefore, advised to attend duty. The defaulting employees will also be liable to other disciplinary action,” said a UT spokesperson.

Though necessary arrangements for maintaining the continuity of power supply have been made, chances of snags due to any untoward incident cannot be ruled out, said the spokesperson.

In case of any disruption, consumers can contact complaint centres in their areas or the control rooms (0172-2703242, 2740475) besides the citizen facilitation centre (0172-4639999).