Power Sector Protests Against Privatisation: AIPEF Leads Demonstrations

New Delhi, Feb 16 (PTI) Power sector employees, led by the All India Power Engineers' Federation (AIPEF), staged protests at various locations of the country on Friday against "the government's policies to privatise power sector assets".

The National Co-ordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) -- a union of employees of the power sector -- also took part in the demonstrations, AIPEF said in a statement.

AIPEF, along with NCCOEEE, held massive demonstrations at headquarters of all power utilities and projects against privatisation policies of the government, it said.

AIPEF Chairman Shailendra Dubey said, "Our demand of scrapping the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 have not been adhered to even after the written commitment of the government to Samyukta Kisan Morcha."

"On the contrary, prepaid smart meters are unlawfully installed in the consumers premises towards curbing the rights of universal access to electricity," he said.

The Ministry of Power is continuing with its privatisation agenda of Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 through the Electricity (Amendment) Rules, he said.

Further, the government is going with its plan "to sell off national assets" in the name of national monestisation pipeline, which also includes several assets of Powergrid, Dubey said.