Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Feb 12: Power employees and engineers across Jammu and Kashmir observed protests at all district headquarters under the banner of the Power Employees and Engineers Coordination Committee (JKPEECC), responding to a nationwide call by the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) and the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEE).
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The protest was led by Sachin Tickoo, convener JKPEECC J&K, general secretary of the J&K Electrical Engineering Graduates Association and vice chairman of AIPEF. Demonstrations were held at offices and revenue centres across the Union Territory, affecting routine work, though power supply remained unaffected.
The employees expressed strong opposition to power sector privatization, the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025, the draft National Electricity Policy 2026, and demanded restoration of the Old Pension Scheme.
Addressing the protesters, Tickoo said that for the first time, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and ten Central Trade Unions extended support and joined the work boycott in solidarity with power employees.
In Srinagar, power employees assembled at the Bemina Power Complex, where employees and engineers from different cadres, including senior officers and daily wagers, participated in the protest.
Addressing the gathering, Pirzada Hidayatullah, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Electrical Engineers’ Guild Association (JKEEGA) and vice chairman of AIPEF, said J&K would not be treated as a “laboratory for failed privatization experiments”. He said public infrastructure created with taxpayers’ money should not be handed over to private entities.
He said the employees were not opposed to reforms but would resist any policy that, in their view, prioritises profit over public welfare and weakens public service accountability.
Protesters demanded the immediate scrapping of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025, restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for power sector employees, and a one-time settlement for regularization of daily wagers working in the department for years.
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