Chandigarh, Oct 21 Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday said the state government stands firmly with power employees and will strongly represent their case before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) against Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (HERC’s) decision granting a parallel electricity distribution licence to a private company for Gurugram and Nuh districts.
Saini said the government is ready to engage lawyers trusted by the power unions to pursue the case.
Reiterating that the government’s doors are always open for dialogue, he appealed to the unions to defer their strike in the public interest.
The Haryana Bijli Karamchari and Engineers Joint Sangharsh Morcha have called for a three-day strike from Thursday against the decision to grant the parallel electricity distribution licence for Gurugram and Nuh districts to a private company.
Recently, the parallel electricity distribution licence was granted to Eleven Power Private Limited.
The HERC, in an order dated October 19, granted the company a 25-year licence covering both revenue districts under Section 14 of the Electricity Act, 2003, Eleven Power had said in a statement on October 19.
In Chandigarh, Chief Minister Saini chaired a key review meeting with administrative secretaries on Wednesday to assess arrangements for the three-day statewide strike called by the Haryana power employees.
Deputy commissioners of all districts joined the meeting online.
Energy Minister Anil Vij, Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi and Director General of Police (DGP) Ajay Singhal were also present, an official statement said.
Saini said that the government, along with the power unions, had opposed HERC’s decision to allow a private company to supply electricity in Gurugram and Nuh.
In keeping with the power employee unions’ demand, the government has decided to challenge the decision before APTEL, he said.
He told the unions that if they so wished, the government was prepared to pursue the case through lawyers of their choice. The chief minister appealed to the power employee unions to defer the strike in the public interest.
Vij asserted that the government would fight the matter resolutely and pursue every available legal avenue.
“We will first contest the matter before APTEL and, if necessary, take it to the Supreme Court. We stand firmly with the electricity employees and will continue this legal battle to the very end,” he said.
Chief Minister Saini directed all deputy commissioners to ensure that the public does not face any inconvenience during the three-day statewide strike.
He said that all departments must work proactively to prevent any disruption during the strike and ensure that no power installation is damaged.
He also directed that drones be deployed to monitor sensitive installations.
Saini said that deputy commissioners could also enlist technical staff working in different departments, employees working in industries and final-year students of polytechnic colleges and ITIs to help maintain smooth power supply. However, they must be provided with safety kits before being assigned work, and all safety measures must be followed, he added.
The DGP said that adequate security measures had been put in place for the strike. Deployment of 6,230 police personnel had been done at 1,015 locations across all districts.
Vij said that every problem could be resolved through dialogue and that his doors were always open for discussions.
He said that the HERC is an autonomous body established under the electricity law enacted by the central government.
Clarifying the state government’s position, Vij said that the government had neither invited applications nor sought proposals for privatisation. However, the central legislation permits any eligible party to apply to HERC for an electricity distribution licence.
He said that a licence had been granted following an application, but the state government disagreed with the decision and had strongly opposed it.
Haryana’s Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Sumita Misra, has directed all civil surgeons and principal medical officers across the state to ensure uninterrupted functioning of health services and healthcare institutions in view of the call for the three-day strike.
(PTI News)
