15,000 employees go on mass leave

Chandigarh: Morethan 15,000 employees of the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd and Punjab State Power Transmission Ltd on Monday went on a three-day mass leave under the banner of Bijli Ekta Manch and Punjab State Employees Federation (PSEB) joint forum, pressing for their long-pending demands.

The strike will continue until midnight on August 13, impacting residential, industry and agricultural sectors across the state.

The employees joined the strike after the meeting with the government failed to yield any outcome on their long-pending demands that include the release of 13 per cent pending dearness allowance, restoration of the old pension scheme, correction of anomalies in pay and pension revisions, besides regularisation of contract staff, and recruitment to nearly 50,000 vacant posts.

Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO has appealed to employees of Powercom to end their agitation and return to work in view of the larger public interest, especially at the time of high power demand.

The minister emphasised that the uninterrupted power supply is crucial for households, agriculture, and industrial sectors; thus, the agitating employees should resume their duties.

He said the prolonged strikes could cause significant hardship to millions of consumers, which should not be suffered at any cost. He assured the employeesthat the government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has shown utmost sincerity and responsiveness in addressing their concerns.

Giving details on recent developments, Harbhajan Singh said a crucial meeting was convened on August 10 in Chandigarh among the PSPCL administration, representatives of thePowercom employees Joint Forum and Bijli Mulazam Ekta Manch, chaired jointly by him and the Finance Minister Harpal Cheema.

During the deliberations, the PSPCL administration gave its consent to accept almost all key demands put forth by the employees.

The demands include the creation of new posts and filling of existing vacancies, an increase in ex-gratia amount, stoppage recovery in compassionate cases till the final decision, provision of cashless medical facilities to employees, release of pending allowances, clearance of overdue overtime payments for grid substation staff and some cases of pension revisions, said the minister.