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Power consumers heave sigh of relief as strike ends
During the strike, power distribution had been affected in some districts and people staged protests.
Power consumers heaved a sigh of relief as power sector employees ended their 72-hour strike prematurely on Sunday afternoon.
During the strike, power distribution had been affected in some districts and people staged protests.
A senior UPPCL official said, “Now every employee must return to duty and start working. The power consumers should not face any problem because of scarcity of staff. The power employees who participated in the strike would be given another chance as the minister has promised no action against them.”
In Lucknow, people had protested at the Singar Nagar crossing near Avadh Rotary, in Chinhat and parts of the old city on Saturday night.
Power consumer body Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad chairman Avadhesh Varma said, “Owing to the strike, common power consumer suffered the most. The Parishad expresses gratitude to the high court, the chief minister and the energy minister. The Upbhokta Parishad will now focus on the fight to ensure that the burden (doesn’t fall) on consumers due to the financial and other infrastructure damage caused during the strike. A petition will be filed in the Electricity Regulatory Commission tomorrow (Monday) on the whole matter so that the consumers do not suffer because of the loss of more than ₹100 crore suffered by UPPCL due to the closure of production units.”
Earlier, after a meeting between energy minister AK Sharma and power employees’ leader Shailendra Dubey, the end of the strike was announced.
Sharma said,” The demands of the employees will be resolved soon by holding talks.”
Dubey said, “Around 3000 power employees who were sacked by the government will be taken back. Apart from this, ESMA was imposed on 22 people, and cases were filed against 29 people. This too would be withdrawn by the government.”
