Powerless industrialists resort to Gandhigiri

With the power situation in the state getting worse by the day,members of the All Industries and Trade Forum,Punjab took to Gandhigiri to make their voices heard.

With the power situation in the state getting worse by the day,members of the All Industries and Trade Forum,Punjab took to Gandhigiri to make their voices heard. Members of the forum presented a bouquet of roses to Cabinet Minister Hira Singh Gabria on Friday. Gabria,who was holding a meeting with the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) officials,was taken aback with the gesture.

When Badish K Jindal,chairman of Federation of Associations of Small Industries of India thanked the minister for imposing power cuts and shutting down the steel industry till July 2,Gabria lost his temper and said: The state is facing a crisis and everyone should cooperate,instead of humiliating me in this way. He,however,cooled down after a while and held a meeting with the delegation.

The industrialists said the state had a shortage of 22 per cent power and it should be distributed equally. Gabria said he would present these points in the Cabinet meeting on Saturday. Industry and Trade Forum member Mohinder Pal Jain said: Gabria was not targeted alone,other MLAs will be given bouquets too.

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The industry has also demanded suspension of PSEB chairman H S Brar and members of the board for not handling properly the power crisis. Narinder Bhamra,another member said: Tubewell connections of 600 MW were released during elections but the PSEB had no power to supply. Now with the additional load,the industry is suffering.

Various members of small,medium and large industries expressed dissatisfaction with the chairman of small industries board Inderjit Pradhan.

Suggestions by industry

* Impose compulsory weekly off in all malls and commercial centres; on weekdays,malls,commercial centres,shops should close by 7 pm

* Government offices should function from 8 am to 2 pm

* Agriculture sector should be asked to pay bills and government should release outstanding subsidy to PSEB

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* Give 10 hours committed supply to textile sector as being given to paddy

* If power situation does not improves,industry will start chain hunger strike from July 3 and will gherao ministers and PSEB officials

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Powerless industrialists resort to Gandhigiri

With the power situation in the state getting worse by the day,members of the All Industries and Trade Forum,Punjab took to Gandhigiri to make their voices heard.

Powerless industrialists resort to Gandhigiri