Power staff slam UPPCL for illegal consultant appointment bid opening
Committee leaders expressed anger over the power corporation management’s decision to open the bid, claiming it violated established norms and sparked resentment among power employees across the state.
The Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti on Saturday condemned the appointment process of a transaction consultant for the privatisation of Purvanchal and Dakshinanchal power distribution corporations, calling it illegal.
The committee has urged all power employees to remain on high alert for a possible statewide agitation against the privatisation move.
Three private firms — Ernst & Young, Deloitte, and Grant Thornton — were shortlisted in the technical bids opened on Saturday for the consultant position to draft the privatisation roadmap for the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL).
Committee leaders expressed anger over the power corporation management’s decision to open the bid, claiming it violated established norms and sparked resentment among power employees across the state.
Addressing a gathering at Shakti Bhawan, committee convener Shailendra Dubey and Power officers association acting president Awadhesh Kumar Verma declared, “All unions are fully mobilised and ready to launch an agitation at any moment.” They called upon over one lakh power employees to stay prepared.
The committee has also urged chief minister Yogi Adityanath to intervene and stop what they described as a “mega scam” disguised as privatisation. They expressed confidence in the CM’s leadership and commitment to reforms but accused the power corporation’s privatisation push of creating unrest in the power sector.
In response to the call, power employees, contract workers, and engineers staged protests across districts and power projects in the state. In Lucknow, a demonstration at Shakti Bhawan saw employees raising slogans against the corporation management, accusing it of corruption.
“After the weekend break, large-scale protests will be staged across all districts and power projects on March 17,” Dubey said.