Chandigarh: The UT administration is likely to hand over the assets of the power department to Kolkata-based Eminent Electricity Distribution Ltd (EEDL) in the first week of February, as the company has deposited Rs 871 crore with the administration. The assets to be transferred include 16 sub-division offices, four division offices, a circle office and a control room. The company will issue electricity bills and manage all helpline numbers after taking over the department. PR Kumar, president, power distribution at RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, stressed, “As we move ahead with the takeover, we would like to assure the employees of the power department that their welfare, including service conditions and retirement benefits, will be fully protected as per the agreement.”
He said as EEDL prepares to take over Chandigarh’s power distribution, the company is firm in its commitment to both consumers and employees, ensuring a future of innovation, efficiency and trust for the sector. Meanwhile, power employees have decided to boycott work from the day the department is handed over to the private company. UT Powerman Union general secretary Gopal Dutt Joshi warned that if the employees were sent to private companies without making a policy for them before handing over the department, the employees would boycott work, due to which the administration’s stubborn attitude would be responsible for the problems faced by the people. The department has about 600 regular employees and about 500 outsourced employees.
Meanwhile, to thwart the agitation of power employees in the city, the UT administration has demanded employees from Haryana. The secretary of the UT Engineering Department yesterday wrote a letter to the MD of North Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and the secretary of the Energy Department of the Haryana government asking them to send 9 JEs, 23 linemen, 55 assistant linemen, 16 SSAs and 10 drivers. However, the Haryana chapter of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEE) has unanimously decided in a meeting that not a single employee or engineer will go to Chandigarh to run electricity-related works. It was also decided to protest against privatization in all subdivisions on January 31. The UT administration had invited bids for the privatisation process in November 2020 and in May 2021 declared the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group as the highest bidder out of seven companies.
