Protesting contractual employees breach barricades, reach CM camp office in Karnal

Karnal, July 29

Under the banner of the Anubandhit Vidyut Karamchari Sangh, hundreds of employees of two power discoms (distribution companies) along with two other bodies of contractual employees took out a state-level protest march in the city. They forcibly crossed the barricades installed by the police and sat on a dharna outside the CM Camp Office here on Monday. They were demanding a regularisation policy for the contractual employees of power discoms.

Despite talks with the OSD to the CM, Sanjay Bathla, the discussion remained inconclusive. Following this, the protesters announced to go on an indefinite strike.

Announce indefinite strike

• Despite talks with the the Chief Minister’s OSD, the discussion remained inconclusive, after which the protesters announced to go on an indefinite strike
• Have been demanding regularisation policy for contractual employees for the last three years
• Each time they were assured of their demands being met, but no action was taken subsequently

The protesters initially assembled at the Fountain Park in Sector 12 and marched towards the CM Camp Office. The police tried to stop them near the camp office by installing barricades, but they leapt over the barriers and continued to march towards camp office, where they sat on a dharna. Meanwhile, they had a physical confrontation with the police. The employees alleged that the police used force to stop them which led to minor injuries to some employees.

Reinstate employees

There are nearly 16,000 contractual employees in discoms who are waiting for regularisation. Around 60 employees from Yamunanagar and Khedar thermal plants have been removed from service for staging a dharna. We are demanding their reinstatement. — Naresh Kumar, Member of Anubandhit Vidyut Karamchari Sangh

Naresh Kumar, a member of the Sangh, said that they have been demanding a regularisation policy for all contractual employees of the discoms — UHBVN and DHBVN, the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) and the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (HPGCL) for the past three years. Each time, they were assured that their demands would be met, but no action has been taken.

“There are nearly 16,000 contractual employees in the discoms who are waiting for regularisation,” said Kumar. “Additionally, around 60 employees from Yamunanagar and and Khedar thermal plants have been removed from service for staging a dharna. We demand their reinstatement,” he said.

Kumar also highlighted the lack of salary hikes for employees appointed through Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRNL), and said that a file concerning outsourced part-II employees, regarding for the same work and same pay, is pending at the Chief Secretary’s office and needs to be cleared. “We will not go back until our demands are fulfilled,” he stressed.