Ludhiana: More than 400 PSPCL engineers exit official coordination groups
These coordination groups are essential for sharing fault updates, assigning field staff, handling complaints, clerical coordination and managing day to day repairs
Electricity services across Ludhiana district came under severe strain on Wednesday after more than 400 high-rank PSPCL engineers, responsible for maintaining uninterrupted power supply exited their official coordination groups. The move is part of a statewide protest called by the PSEB Engineers Association (PSEBEA) against alleged political interference in the department and the proposed sale of power sector properties across Punjab.
Reportedly, these coordination groups are essential for sharing fault updates, assigning field staff, handling complaints, clerical coordination and managing day to day repairs. With engineers stepping back indefinitely, communication between senior officials and on-ground teams has collapsed, making it significantly harder to respond quickly to outages.
The protest follows repeated warnings by PSEBEA over the government’s push to sell power sector assets, delays in constructing two supercritical units of 800 MW at Ropar, and the suspension of the chief engineer of the Ropar thermal power plant on allegedly unverified grounds.
In a press statement released on November 20, Jasvir Dhiman, president of PSEBEA, pointed out that engineers have raised these issues in several meetings with power minister Sanjeev Arora and power secretary Basant Garg along with multiple written submissions. “With no corrective action taken, engineers across Punjab are deeply aggrieved and compelled to resort to statewide protests starting November 26,” he said.
A central demand of the association is the revocation of the suspension of Harish Sharma, chief engineer holding dual charge of Guru Gobind Singh Thermal Power Plant in Ropar and Guru Amardas Thermal Power Plant in Goindwal Sahib, and the reinstatement of Harjit Singh, director power generation, whom the association says was removed on “fabricated technical grounds”.
{{/usCountry}}A central demand of the association is the revocation of the suspension of Harish Sharma, chief engineer holding dual charge of Guru Gobind Singh Thermal Power Plant in Ropar and Guru Amardas Thermal Power Plant in Goindwal Sahib, and the reinstatement of Harjit Singh, director power generation, whom the association says was removed on “fabricated technical grounds”.
{{/usCountry}}Why engineers exited the groups
{{/usCountry}}Why engineers exited the groups
{{/usCountry}}Explaining the decision, PSEBEA members in Ludhiana said engineering cadre officers cannot go on strike because of their essential role in running the power department. As a symbolic but impactful protest, they have exited all official WhatsApp groups until the state government and PSPCL management address their demands.
{{/usCountry}}Explaining the decision, PSEBEA members in Ludhiana said engineering cadre officers cannot go on strike because of their essential role in running the power department. As a symbolic but impactful protest, they have exited all official WhatsApp groups until the state government and PSPCL management address their demands.
{{/usCountry}}Following this move, a meeting with chairman-cum-managing director Basant Garg has been scheduled for Thursday in Patiala. “If PSPCL authorities fail to respond positively, we will switch off our official mobile phones as well, ahead of a protest at the PSPCL head office on December 2,” association members said.
{{/usCountry}}Following this move, a meeting with chairman-cum-managing director Basant Garg has been scheduled for Thursday in Patiala. “If PSPCL authorities fail to respond positively, we will switch off our official mobile phones as well, ahead of a protest at the PSPCL head office on December 2,” association members said.
{{/usCountry}}Impact on consumers and industries
Consumers and industries across Ludhiana are likely to feel the pinch of the engineers’ withdrawal from coordination groups. With no central system to relay fault information, power breakdowns may take longer to reach the notice of senior engineers, delaying the deployment of field staff and repair teams.
A senior PSPCL official, requesting anonymity, explained, “Engineers have exited over 30 official groups in Ludhiana district alone on Wednesday. These groups acted as our real time control room. Every fault from a single transformer failure in a residential area to a major outage affecting industries was reported here. With engineers out, the information flow has been severely hit.”
He added that the absence of senior engineers from these groups not only slows response time but also leaves junior staff without technical guidance during complex faults, which could further extend repair timelines.
Industries, which rely heavily on uninterrupted supply for production cycles, may experience the most inconvenience, especially during peak hours.
