Pen-down strike by Power Corp engineers
Umesh Diwan
Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 22
Engineers working with the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL), will observe ‘Pen-down and tool-down’ strike from 11 am to 1 pm on July 26. The PSEB Engineers’ Association has given the strike call to lodge its protest against the failure of the Punjab Government to accord approval for setting up of the proposed 1320-MW thermal plant under the state sector at Mukerian.

Giving this information, the association president HS Bedi said, “On July 26, our association will also issue a White Paper on the lopsided power- generation policy of the Punjab government.” Bedi further said that as per the proposal sent to the state government by the PSPCL management, from the total financial requirement of about Rs 7,000 crore, about 90 per cent of the 1320-MW thermal project cost would be borne by the Power Finance Corporation and the rest by the PSPCL. “Not a single penny has to be invested by the state government. But still, the government is not giving clearance to the project”, he said.

Further commenting on the matter, the general secretary of the association, Bhupinder Singh stated that PSPCL is meeting 52 per cent of the power demand of its consumers from own generation and rest from the central sector allocation and power purchase from private players. “The power engineers are worried that with share of own power generation going down to less than 19 per cent with the commissioning of new plants under the private sector, the cost of power will further rise, leading to a sharp increase in the consumer tariff in the state. Hence, we appeal to the Punjab Chief Minister to grant immediate approval to set up the 1320-MW thermal plant under the state sector”, he said.

Bhupinder further said that the engineers are also agitated over the delay in the recruitment for the posts of assistant engineers on a regular basis. He said, “More than 650 posts of engineers are lying vacant for the past many years.The working of the generating stations, grid sub-stations and field offices is being adversely affected due to the paucity of the staff and engineers. Many 220 grid sub-stations, which were commissioned recently, are being operated without any qualified staff”.