MSEB stir still on, state may soften stance on privatisation

This is a softening of the state’s stance, since soon after Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s US visit, he had announced MSEB would be unbundled to ensure reforms in the sector, which shall gradually pave way for privatisation as in other states. The move is expected to satisfy agitiating unions whose main fear is ultimate privatisation of the board.

Meanwhile, the CM has noted that the unions are not coming forward for negotiations and that he wanted to clarify that unbundling need not necessarily mean privatisation.

Yashwant Bhave, MSEB chairman said: “Union leaders are meeting the Energy Minister for negotiations. Their strike notice mentions they are opposed to the board’s unbundling. We have made it clear that unbundling is aimed at accountability in the board’s functioning and does not mean privatisation or job cuts. In fact, this was the stand taken by the CM when we were at the World Bank headquarters. Though the Bank asked for privatistion, the CM ruled out privatisation.”

Meanwhile, power disruptions have occurred in several parts of the state. In Kalyan, availability of power in the last 24 hours was just for two hours. MSEB sources said in case of any sabotage in low capacity sub-stations, there is less manpower to attend. This will result in disruptions. At present, out of the 2,000 sub-stations in the state, staff have been deployed to take care of higher capacity stations, leaving smaller ones unmanned.

About 1,10,000 employees, officers and engineers working at powerstations, transmission and distribution wings are participating in the strike, which on the first day was “totally successful,” unions claimed.

MSEB officials said the board currently receives power from five different sources: Tata Electric Company (TEC), BSES, NTPC, Dabhol Power Corporation (DPC) and the rest from MSEB internally. At the moment, MSEB is falling short by almost 50 per cent of its requirements since its internal source of power will be non-functional during this period.

The DPC is providing 650 mw of power round-the-clock to MSEB so that the strike’s effect is minimised. The present power supply of DPC to MSEB is 728 MW. Officials said the meagre staff in various power stations was trying to ensure power supply was not disrupted. They said there were reports of severe power disruption.

“The strike has affected generation of electricity in the state. The total power generation has dropped to the lowest value. Some of the power stations are on the verge of closure for want of supervisory and other staff,” the union claimed in a statement.