Unions of three state-owned power companies in Maharashtra to go 72 hour strike from Jan 4

Unions of three state-owned power companies in Maharashtra have warned of a 72 hour strike from Wednesday to protest against privatisation of power companies. The strike has been called by Maharashtra Rajya Karmachari, Adhikari and Abhiyanta Sangharsh Samiti, an action committee of power company unions.

More than 30 unions of drivers, wiremen, engineers and other employees have come together to thwart the attempt of privatisation in the state-owned power companies, Krushan Bhoir, general secretary of Maharashtra State Electricity Workers Federation told PTI.

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd (Mahavitaran), Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Co Ltd (Mahapareshan) and Maharashtra State Electricity Generation Co Ltd (Mahanirmiti) are the state-owned power companies.

Employees of these companies have been staging agitations since the last two to three weeks, while on Monday, 15,000 employees had staged a demonstration outside the Thane collector office, he said.

Nearly 86,000 employees, officers and engineers of the three power companies, along with 42,000 contract employees and security guards will go on a 72-hour strike starting Wednesday to protest against privatisation, Bhoir said.

One of the major demands of the protesting employees is that Adanai Group's power subsidiary should not be given a parallel distribution licence to make profit in Bhandup in eastern Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, he said.

There are no financial demands in this agitation, but we want these power companies owned by people of the state to survive. These should not be sold to private capitalists who intend to only make profit, Bhoir said.