The State Electricity Board Employees Union has opposed the government move to lease out 4.5-MW Thirot Power Project in Lahaul-Spiti to a private party for its operation, maintenance and capacity augmentation.
The union alleged that the objective behind the move was to grant benefit to a particular private player having close relations with political bosses. The board had already incurred a huge expenditure on the power project to improve its generation and it was expected to achieve full generation from the next fiscal.
There was no justification for leasing out the project to a private player after investing huge funds on it. It cautioned that it would oppose outsourcing of Thirot as well as other power houses owned by the board and would not hesitate to launch a mass stir against such moves.
The government and the board management had been maintaining that the company was having surplus staff but at the same time it was outsourcing its projects and important works. There was a deliberate attempt to made the board staff idle by outsourcing works.
The union alleged that certain bureaucrats were bent upon destabilising the board, which was providing best possible services to the people from the past 40 years. Instead of outsourcing, the government should provide more hydropower projects to the board for execution to bring down the employee cost.
Via: Tribuneindia
