J&K ropes in Army as power dept strike plunges region in darkness

As several districts of Jammu and Kashmir faced power cuts with electricity department engineers going on strike, the Union Territory’s (UT) administration on Monday sought help from the Army. The power department engineers have been striking work for the past two days over plans to privatise the power sector in the UT.

J&K administration officials held talks on Sunday evening with the striking employees, but the impasse could not be ended. Hence, they approached the military for help, and teams of Army engineers are now arriving at power stations and grids in several areas of the UT, particularly in Jammu.

The striking employees said they would not take part in any repair and restoration work, unless it belongs to a hospital supply network.

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Reacting to the issue, National Conference leader and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the administration should leave privatisation decisions alone, so that an elected government can take it up whenever it is formed.

The army has been called to operate the power infrastructure in Jammu division of J&K. There no bigger admission of failure for a civilian administration than to call upon the army, it means a total breakdown of governance has been accepted by the J&K government. pic.twitter.com/xEVPqF1adN

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 19, 2021

Residents belligerent

Plunged in total darkness, angry residents held demonstrations in various parts of J&K. There was total blackout in many areas, and people were cut off from access to power and water supply. The region is reeling under a cold wave, and there was palpable anger over the lack of access to water and heating, said media reports.

REC & PowerGrid officials are being ably assisted by the Engineers of MES to restore electricity in certain areas that were plunged into darkness.The team is serving people with utmost commitment & dedication& fulfilling its duties despite challenges for the welfare of the people

— DIPR-J&K (@diprjk) December 19, 2021

The Government of J & K, taking a sympathetic view of the issues raised, has engaged in several round of talks with Coordination Committee of the Power Employees. 1/4@OfficeOfLGJandK @nitishwarKumar @pddjkofficial @ddnews_jammu @ddnewsSrinagar @airnewsalerts @PTI_News

— DIPR-J&K (@diprjk) December 19, 2021

Senior BJP leader and former MLA Devender Singh Rana urged the J&D administration to sort out the issues with Electricity Department employees so that power supply is restored in the region. He pointed out that students are facing the brunt of the trouble, as their online classes are also interrupted. “Failure in the power supply is impacting internet services,” he said.

Employees unhappy

From Friday midnight, around 20,000 employees of the UT’s electricity department have boycotted work over several demands. They primarily want the government to drop plans for a joint venture between J&K Power Transmission Corporation Ltd and PowerGrid, a Union government-owned company.

It is a wide-ranging strike, with demonstrations held in Srinagar, Jammu and several district headquarters. Employees from all unions, across all categories, are participating in it. They put forth a four-point formula to the J&K administration, which refused to accept it, said an India Today report.

Their key demands are: implementation of the recommendations of an unbundling report, creation of positions at gazetted and non-gazetted levels (as mandated by a committee), regularisation of daily wagers and engineers, delinking of salary from grant-in-aid, and a regular budget for all power department employees on deputation to other entities.