Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 18: Jammu & Kashmir Power Engineers and Employees Coordination Committee (JKPEECC) has in one voice opposed the proposal of Central Government regarding privatization of DISCOMS in Union Territories.
“It is a sad day for the Union Territory of J&K that the decision of privatization has been announced in this crisis situation of COVID-19 which goes against the basic ethos of democracy where under the major policy decision shift requires threadbare consultations with all the stakeholders including general public which will have direct impact due to privatization of power sector,” the committee said in a release.
The JKPEECC said that the power sector of UT of J&K is entirely different than rest of the states of India not to talk of other Union Territories because of its geographical terrain. “That the grouping of UT of J&K in decision implementation vis-à-vis the rest of the UTs of India is nothing but farce as the population as per Census-2011 of UT of J&K is 3 times the entire populace of all the UTs of India taken together and the consumer base of J&K is more than double than that of the entire consumer base of all the UTs of India taken together,” it added.
The Committee said that the power employees of J&K are concerned about their service conditions as well as status while looking at the condition of erstwhile Delhi Board employees (DESU) where the employees which continue to remain in the service of Board have been treated as second class employees.
The privatization proposal will destroy the Power sector of UT of J&K in its entirety and will burden the consumers who are already under economic distress due to various events specific to this region, the committee said, adding, all the Power Engineers and employees of J&K will have no option but to resort to agitation in case the proposal of privatization is not withdrawn.
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