M A I N   N E W S

Fresh round of talks fail
UP strike enters ninth day

LUCKNOW, Jan 23 (PTI) — Efforts to hold a fresh round of negotiations between leaders of the striking powermen in Uttar Pradesh and the state government failed to make any headway tonight with both sides sticking to their respective stands on the trifurcation of the state electricity board (UPSEB), official sources said.

The talks, which had been revived to break the deadlock, were attended by Energy Minister Naresh Agarwal, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Hukum Singh, Minister of State for Energy Laloo Singh and top officials of the Energy Department from the government side and at least eight office bearers of the up powermen Joint Action Committee (UPPJAC).

The UPPJAC representatives stuck to their demand for immediate release of three of their key leaders, Shailendra Dubey, Raja Ram Mishra and a.k. Singh, who have been detained under the NSA and lodged in jails.

The government insisted on not rescinding its notification trifurcating the UPSEB but wanted to discuss the other matters related to service conditions of the striking powermen, the sources said.

However, it said it was still open for a dialogue, sources maintained but s.b. Singh, the media convenor of UPPJAC rejected the same saying "for us the only agenda is withdrawal of notification".

"The government also wanted us to give an undertaking that we would not discuss the power reforms in our future meetings", Mr S.B. Singh said, adding the same had been rejected.

"We made it clear that unless our leaders were released, the quorum of the UPPJAC Cabinet remained incomplete and hence talks could not be resumed", he told PTI.

Earlier, even as the government maintained a tough posture by terminating the services of 2000 powermen, arresting 6833 of them and setting in motion the recruitment of new hands, both the powermen’s union leaders and Energy Minister Naresh Agarwal said they had received feelers from each other for fresh negotiations stalled since Friday.

The government claimed that 20,000 striking powermen had resumed work, but media convener of the UP Powermen Joint Action Committee (UPPJAC) S. B. Singh refuted it.

He claimed the Northern India Powermen Federation (NIPF) comprising Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Punjab would go on a day’s token strike tomorrow to express solidarity with the UP agitators.

While powermen in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh would strike work on January 24, those in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had threatened to join the stir.

Employees of National Coalfield and Coal India had threatened to stop supplying coal to power plants in the country.

The UPPJAC condemned the state government for invoking the National Security Act (NSA) against its key leaders — Shailendra Dubey and A. K. Singh — and terminating their services.

“The two leaders were granted bail by the Chief Judicial Magistrate yesterday but the government invoked the NSA and again arrested them,” the committee spokesman said.

NEW DELHI: The All-India Trade Union Congress on Sunday condemned Union Power Minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam for calling trade unions in UP leading the power employees strike as “mafia” groups.