Privatization of electricity distribution is not acceptable in Uttar Pradesh – General Secretary
Lucknow.Jitendra Singh Gurjar, General Secretary of Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Council Engineers Association, has said that according to the press note released today by the Power Corporation, the distribution areas are to be privatized on PPP mode like the Orissa model, which is neither in the interest of the consumers nor in the interest of consumers. Nor the employees. Therefore privatization is not acceptable.
Before blaming the Power Corporation for being in a debt trap in the name of losses and debts, it is necessary that the Power Corporation management should explain point by point the reasons for which the losses are occurring and what steps the management has taken to reduce the losses. He said that the Engineers Association is always ready to discuss in detail the reasons for the losses, but it is a matter of great regret that till date the management has never held talks with the organizations on the reform programs. He emphatically said that if an action plan for improvement is made taking the engineers and employee unions into confidence, it is our guarantee that positive results will start coming within a year.
He said that Orissa’s model has completely failed. In 1998, all distribution companies in Orissa were privatized on the PPP model. After 17 years, in February 2015, the Electricity Regulatory Commission of Orissa had canceled all three electricity distribution licenses of Reliance Power due to its complete failure. It is clear that this experiment has completely failed. During the Corona period, once again the work of power distribution companies of Orissa has been given to Tata Power. There are still no significant reforms and giving an example of this or based on this example, privatization of power distribution companies of Uttar Pradesh on PPP model is imposing a failed experiment in Uttar Pradesh which is neither in the interest of the employees nor in the interest of the employees. Only in the interest of consumers.
He said that in the written agreement signed after talks with the then Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma in April 2018 and in the written agreement signed with the Cabinet Sub-Committee under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Suresh Khanna in October 2020, it has been clearly stated that there will be no investment in the energy sector in Uttar Pradesh. Privatization will not be done. Therefore, if privatization exercise is being done in violation of the above agreements, then it will be a violation of the agreement made with the government. He said that the Engineers Association will issue a point-wise detailed form on the reasons for the losses in a day or two.
