SEB engineers observe 2-hour strike
Seek setting up of power plant under state sector
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 26
Engineers belonging to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and the Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL), and working in the Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant (GHTP) at Lehra Mohabbat, the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP) at Bathinda and in the West Zone comprising Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar, Faridkot, Ferozepur and Moga districts, today observed pen-down and tool-down strike for two hours (from 11 am to 1 pm).

The engineers were protesting against dilly-dallying by the Punjab Government to give approval to the PSPCL's proposal to set up a 1320-MW thermal plant (near Mukerian) under the state sector. Among other demands were augmentation of the capacities of existing thermal plants by adopting super critical technology, scrapping of the Punjab Generation Policy notified on June 21, 2010, which had virtually violated the principle of competitive bidding contained in the Electricity Act 2003, and scrapping of the MoUs signed with private companies to develop power projects in Punjab.

The engineers gathered at the Officers' Club in the Thermal Colony here today and were addressed by Fateh Pal Singh Malhi, regional secretary, GNDTP, Bathinda; KS Mann, senior vice-president of the association; and Darshan Singh, an executive member of the association. They even kept their mobile phones switched off during the strike.