Punjab power engineers body condemns ‘unauthorised meetings’, warns of intensifying stir

PSEBEA also appealed to the power utility management to refrain from engaging with what it termed “unrepresentative elements” and instead hold discussions with the legitimate, elected representatives of engineers.

It needs to be mentioned that the registered PSEBEA members too met with the CMD after the meeting of other faction and lodged their protest before them. (Representative Image)

The Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers’ Association (PSEBEA) Saturday condemned the actions of what it described as a “small group of self-styled and disgruntled engineer officers”, accusing them of acting under political patronage and colluding with vested interests to undermine the state power sector.

In a statement, the association alleged that these officers attempted to mislead engineers by convening a meeting with the Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD)of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Power Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) at the PSTCL Guest House in Mohali on Saturday afternoon. However, it claimed that the majority of engineers refused to attend the meeting, with only a few participating.

The Association said its representatives were present at the PSTCL Guest House to appeal to the officers attending the meeting and urged them to instead come to the Association’s headquarters in Patiala for discussions to address any personal or service-related issues through proper organisational channels.

” PSEBEA expressed serious concern over what the members termed a “secretive and unofficial meeting” held by these officers with the CMD bypassing the duly elected and representative body of engineers,” said Ajaypal Singh Atwal general secretary of PSEBEA.

The Association alleged that such actions were aimed at creating confusion and weakening the ongoing agitation to safeguard power sector assets for personal gains. It needs to be mentioned that the registered PSEBEA members too met with the CMD after the meeting of other faction and lodged their protest before them.

The PSEBEA has been protesting against suspension of the chief engineer of Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant, termination of Harjeet Singh from the post of director generation, against the alleged political interference, and concerns over delays and hurdles in establishing 2×800 MW supercritical thermal units at Ropar under the state sector.

The Association warned that the agitation would be further intensified if such issues were not addressed.

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PSEBEA also appealed to the power utility management to refrain from engaging with what it termed “unrepresentative elements” and instead hold discussions with the legitimate, elected representatives of engineers. It cautioned that encouraging such parallel interactions could aggravate unrest and adversely impact industrial harmony within the power sector.

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