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Power workers threaten agitation against new policy

Lucknow Nov 30. Even as the Uttar Pradesh Development Council finalised a new power policy for the state, power employees' unions have threatened an agitation alleging the policy ``caters to the needs of the industrialists.''. The new policy is likely to get the cabinet approval in the first week of December.

This would be the third power policy after the first one introduced in 1994 and the second in 1998.

According to chief secretary A P Singh, the new policy was adopted by the council here on Thursday night during its third meeting.

``Details about the new policy would be available only after the state cabinet approves it during its meeting slated after December 5 next'', he added.

He said suggestions of major power players in the country including TATA and Reliance and also FICCI had been taken care of in the new policy.

The employees and engineers unions have strongly objected to the new power policy terming it as a mean to benefit private players.

The state power engineers, who are on warpath demanding promotions and have announced a 24-hour strike on December 4, today maintained the state government had no authority to draft a new policy.

``Before that we would organise protest demonstrations on December 2 by wearing black badges,'' a release by the Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti said.

``Under the Electricity Act 2003, any new power policy of the state would be made after an approval from the central government, which had constituted two committees on the issue for submitting its report by April 2004,'' claimed Shailendra Dubey, secretary of the All India Power Engineers Federation.

The statement also claimed the new policy would fail to keep the interest of 37 per cent farm sector consumers and power employees.

Power department employees demanded the Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, consult them before taking the policy to the cabinet. -- UNI

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