Ludhiana: Protesting PSPCL employees defer ‘mass leave’ after meeting with power minister

The protesting Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) employees announced on Friday to postpone their mass leave after a meeting with power minister Harbhajan Singh ETO.
Secretary of power and other senior of officials were present at the meeting in Chandigarh.
The discussions addressed various issues and some circulars being were issued by the management.
The employees had been agitating over 15 demands, including compensation of ₹1 crore to the families of regular employees deceased on duty, martyr status to employees killed in fatal accidents while being on duty and cashless treatment facilities to injured employees.
Following the meeting, the management issued circulars addressing four key demands: revisions of dislocation allowance up to 5% of basic pay, hardship allowance, pay band for Group III employees, and an increment in nature of advance promotional benefits.
Technical Services Union president Ratan Mujari said, “I extend congratulations to all my fellow workers who contributed to the agitation. I apologise from the common people who bore the brunt of the strike.”Ea
Grievances pile up
According to PSPCL chief engineer Jagdev Singh Hans, around 1,597 complaints were received at the Ludhiana central zone between Thursday midnight and Friday evening. He said nearly 800 of these were resolved.
Punjab State Electricity Boards Employees Federation division president Gurpreet Mehdoodan alleged, “After the technical staff joined the agitation on Thursday midnight, the department is assigning repairing tasks to clerical and other office staff, putting their lives at risk.”
He added, “Those who can’t even operate a switch are asked to tackle high tension wires.”
Since August 21, regular staff, both clerical and technical, have been on a ‘work-to-rule’ strike where they refused to perform besides their core duties.
Rishika Kriti
[email protected]
Ludhiana, 13 September, 2024: PSPCL employees have announced to postpone their mass leave strike after a successful meeting held on September 13. The meeting took place in Chandigarh under the leadership of Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO, with the Secretary of Power in attendance addressed the burning issues of agitation employees.
The discussions addressed various employee issues leading to some circulars being issued by the management.
The employees had been agitating over 15 pressing demands such as compensation of ₹1cr to the families of deceased regular employees, status of matryr granted to employees deceased in fatal accidents while being on duty and cashless treatment facilities to injured employees.
Following the meeting on Friday evening, the management issued circulars addressing four key demands: revision of the dislocation allowance up to 5% of basic pay, revision of the hardship allowance, revision of the pay band for Group 3 employees, and an increment in nature of advance promotional benefits. As a result, the Technical Services union has decided to temporarily suspend the strike.
Ratan Mujari, President of the Technical Services Union, confirmed the news by stating, “I extend congratulations to all my fellow workers who contributed to the agitation. I also seek apologies from the common people who bore the brunt of the strike, as we are bound to protest to press for our demands.”