Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 8: A Federal Executive of the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), in its meeting held at Dehradun today, expressed serious concern and strong resentment over the reported move of the Government of India to table and pass the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 in Parliament during the ongoing Budget Session.
Shailendra Dubey, Chairman & P Rathnakar Rao, secretary general AIPEF told the meeting noted with deep anguish that despite large-scale objections submitted by stakeholders including power employees, engineers, farmers’ organizations and consumer groups, the Government appears to be pushing the Bill without proper discussion and democratic consultation.
AIPEF stated that when comments were invited on the proposed amendments, it was the responsibility of the Government to transparently disclose how those objections were examined and addressed. Ignoring these objections and rushing the legislation undermines the democratic process.
Federation strongly objected to the manner in which the consultation process has been handled. It pointed out that the Ministry of Power constituted a Working Group on January 30, 2026 to examine the comments, which included the Director General of the All India DISCOM Association, an organization that has consistently advocated privatization of the distribution sector.
The Federal Executive reiterated that the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 and the National Electricity Policy 2026 appear to be instruments designed to accelerate large-scale privatization of the power sector. They warned that such policies will weaken the public electricity system and adversely affect electricity employees, farmers and common consumers.
The meeting also expressed serious concern over the aggressive push for privatization across the power sector.
The meeting expressed strong opposition to the decision of the Government of Uttarakhand to transfer 76.73 hectares of land belonging to hydel power projects of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited at Dakpathar and Dhalipur through the Uttarakhand Infrastructure and Industrial Development Board for allocation to the private sector.
The Federal Executive reiterated its demand for restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for Power Sector employees across the country. AIPEF has given a clarion call for nationwide lightning action on March 10, 2026.
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