Puducherry in darkness as electricity department employees go on strike

Parts of the tiny Union Territory of Puducherry have plunged into darkness with employees of the electricity department continuing with their protest against the government’s moves to privatise its power distribution company.

Several areas in Puducherry city continue to reel under power cuts for the past few days, especially since Saturday. Around 20,000 employees of the Electricity Department have been boycotting work by holding a protest since last week, severely inconveniencing people due to frequent long hours of power cuts.

After days of talks between the two sides, the employees on Monday evening withdrew their strike following an assurance from the UT administration led by Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister N Rangasamy that their demands will be considered.

The protests began after the NR Congress-BJP coalition government in Puducherry floated a tender in the last week of September seeking bids to sell 100 per cent of its stake in the power distribution company to private companies. The employees say there was no need for the privatisation of the power distribution company as it was not even incurring losses.

While protesting the move to privatisation, the employees have placed several demands before the government, including assurance of job security. With employees not attending work, the government is facing a challenge in preventing power outages and restoring power to places where supply has been suspended.

Even as the crisis compounded, Electricity Minister A Namassivayam courted controversy by participating in a flag march organised by the RSS in Puducherry on October 2.

Opposition parties like Congress and DMK have condemned the government’s decision to privatise the power distribution company. Unfazed by the protests, the UT administration said the employees have been assured that there would not be any shortfall in their salary and they can draw their monthly salary regularly, as is being paid at present by the government.

“During the meetings held under the Chairmanship of the Secretary to Govt.(Power) on 28-09-2022 and on 29-09-2022, the Members of the Privatisation Protest Committee assured that they will not stop the power supply to the consumers and that no public will be affected by their agitations/strike,” T Arun, Secretary, Power Department, said.

He said in contrary to their assurance, employees sabotaged the functioning of all three 230 KV Sub-stations and also various overhead lines, which created a failure of power supply to the entire Puducherry region on 01-10-2022.

“The act of the employees is condemned from all quarters and the same is punishable under law,” he said, and appealed to the employees to withdraw their agitation and return back to their normal duties immediately.