Haryana Energy Dept. Strike: Vij Confident of Resolution

Chandigarh, Aug 7 (PTI) Haryana Minister Anil Vij on Friday said discussions with the energy department employees' unions over their proposed three-day strike from August 11-13 are continuing and expressed confidence that the government will be able to persuade them to withdraw the decision.

Vij said representatives of various energy department employees' unions had recently been invited for detailed discussions, which he attended with senior departmental officers.

The energy minister said the unions had primarily raised three key demands. The first was that electricity distribution should not be privatised through the grant of a parallel distribution licence. Responding to this concern, the minister explained that the matter is before the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC), which is an autonomous statutory body and does not function under the energy department.

Vij clarified that the application for a parallel electricity distribution licence was submitted directly to HERC and not through the energy department.

According to an official statement, Vij said the commission is currently hearing the matter.


He further said the unions that the Haryana government has formally opposed privatisation before HERC and that departmental officers had placed the government's objections on record during the proceedings in accordance with the documents approved by the government. After this clarification, he said, the issue had been resolved during the meeting.

Referring to the second demand regarding smart meters, Anil Vij said no tenders have yet been floated for the project and that the proposal is still under process.

"Since no tenders have been issued so far, this concern also stood addressed," he added.

On the unions' third demand regarding the proposed Agri DISCOM, the energy minister said while the chief minister had referred to the proposal during the assembly session, there has not yet been any discussion between him and the chief minister on the matter. Therefore, he said, it would be premature to comment on the future course of action.

Vij said after receiving these clarifications, the unions had initially agreed and the issues appeared to have been resolved. However, after the meeting, "certain mischievous elements" allegedly misled them, following which the strike was announced, he said.

Despite this, the minister said the government remains committed to dialogue. "Our discussions with the unions are continuing. Even today, energy department officials engaged in talks with them, and I am fully confident that we will be able to convince the employees," he added.