Before the UT powermen called for a strike to protest the privatization of the electricity department, UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria said that the interests of the employees would be protected and the company would not transfer them out of Chandigarh without their prior consent.
After the Supreme Court dismissed the special leave petition of the UT Powermen’s Union Chandigarh (Regd) on December 2, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria on Thursday.
In the meeting, the administrator directed to secure all the existing service benefits of the employees and address the grievances of the UT Powermen’s Union.
To protect the interests of employees transferred to CPDL, the ‘Chandigarh Vidyut Employees Master Trust’ has been created under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882.
The trust will manage all terminal liabilities of the transferred employees, with an initial fund of Rs 263 crore allocated by the company.
The Trust will be headed by the Secretary Engineering and managed by a Board of Trustees comprising officers from the Chandigarh Administration with the Superintending Engineer (Electricity Circle) as Member Secretary. The Board will manage the day-to-day operations of the Trust.
The ‘Chandigarh Power Improvement Transfer Scheme’ has been formulated and the works will be handed over to ‘Chandigarh Power Distribution Limited’ (CPDL) after notification of the transfer scheme from the Chandigarh Administration, which includes special provisions. employees.
“All benefits of service accrued during their service under administration immediately prior to the date of transfer to the Company, including government benefits to which they are entitled, shall be fully recognized and preserved and shall be taken into account for all purposes, including the payment of any or all terminal. benefits of such employees. To assess terminal liabilities of employers Every year the accruals will be studied and the company will deposit the amount in the trust accordingly,” UT said.
The transferred employees, without their prior consent, were said not to be posted outside Chandigarh by the company. Procedures for approving and disbursing terminal benefits from the trust will be determined by the administration based on the recommendation of the board of trustees.
It was also stated that the Chandigarh administration will constitute a committee from the date of transfer to receive representations/suggestions on the transfer of employees in the company and make recommendations to the administration regarding their grievances regarding the transfer of employees in the company.
As part of major structural reforms in the power sector, the privatization of power distribution utilities is envisaged under the ‘Aatm Nabar Bharat Abhiyan’ launched by the Government of India.
Accordingly, the privatization process was initiated in Chandigarh, with M/s Eminent Power Company Limited emerging as the successful bidder. After approval from the Union Cabinet, ‘Chandigarh Power Distribution Limited’ (CPDL) has been formed.
Taking the privatization process forward, the Chandigarh administration has also issued a letter of intent (LOI) to the highest bidder.
UT Powermen had filed a CwP in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court dismissed a petition challenging the Chandigarh administration’s process to privatize the power wing of the UT engineering department.
Additionally, UT Powermen’s Union filed an SLP which was dismissed.