PSEB staff to oppose board privatisation
Kulwinder Sangha

Mohali, August 20
Members of the Mohali circle of the Technical Services Union of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) said here today that they would not accept the privatisation of the power board at any cost and were ready to make sacrifices to save it from being given into private hands.

Members of the union held a meeting here yesterday, which was presided over by circle president Lakha Singh. It was pointed out that the Punjab government had made all preparations to hand over the board to private parties by September 15 and as such workers had also chalked out their strategies for saving the power board from being privatised.

Lakha said the state committee had presented a charter of demands to the management of the PSEB and demanded that employees should be given revised pay scales and allowances at the earliest after settling the matter across the table.

It was also demanded that the decision to unbundle the power board should be cancelled and after passing a resolution in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha the Central government should be asked to cancel the Power Bill, 2003, and improve the present structure of the board after filling the vacant posts.

Members of the families of persons, who had died while working, should be given jobs on a priority basis. He said members of the union would take part in a dharna on August 21 at Patiala.