Engineers urge MP CM to implement July 7 agreement

Patiala, October 3

The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) wants the state governments to honour their commitments to the power engineers. In a meeting held here, the federation urged the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister to intervene and direct the authorities of the power sector for an immediate implementation of the July 7 agreement between the state and the power engineers.

Shailendra Dubey, Chairman AIPEF, said in a letter to the Chief Minister on October 2 that if the government fails to meet the demands in time, the power engineers and workers of Madhya Pradesh will be compelled to go on an indefinite work boycott starting October 6. “After a lapse of three months, all the demands remain pending. The written agreement done by the state government with power engineers on July 7 must be honoured and implemented without further delay”, wrote Dubey in the letter.

“The employees had proceeded on a day strike on June 28 and deferred their three-day strike from July 10 following an agreement of July 7 between the state government and employees over seven demands”, said AIPEF spokesperson VK Gupta.

Gupta added, “Any disruption of power during elections or otherwise will be the responsibility of the state government. The power engineers of Madhya Pradesh have asked the government to fill up the vacant posts, as currently they are managing the entire infrastructure with less than 35 percent of the sanctioned strength of workers and engineers. They also said that due to extreme work pressure on the existing engineers and officers, the number of accidents has increased.”

The employees have also asked the government to implement the seventh pay commission, stop privatisation in the power sector, and implement an old-age pension policy, among others. It further mentioned that in the event that power engineers go on an indefinite work boycott, they will be fully supported by power engineers across the country.