New Delhi, March 6 The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), a body of power sector engineers, said on Friday that 2.7 million workers associated with it will go on strike on March 10 to protest against a proposed legislation aimed at changing the country's electricity distribution framework.
The AIPEF said that there is strong resentment among power employees and engineers over the government's plan to table the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 in Parliament.
The draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 provides for allowing multiple electricity distributors to operate in the same area using shared infrastructure. The bill also provides for cost-reflective tariffs while protecting subsidized consumers and eliminating cross-subsidy for industrial consumers within five years.
According to AIPEF, nearly 2.7 million power employees and engineers across the country will go on strike and demonstrate on March 10.
The decision was taken in an online meeting of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE), which was chaired by Shailendra Dubey, Chairman of the AIPEF.
The NCCOEEE has also written to the power ministry, demanding that the "anti-farmer, anti-consumer and anti-employee Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 should not be introduced in Parliament", the AIPEF said.
Dubey said in the statement that the power ministry earlier invited comments from stakeholders on the Bill, and all federations, trade unions and organizations associated with the power sector across the country had opposed it.
He said that the comments of stakeholders have neither been made public nor the minutes of the consultations have been released.
Instead, on January 30, the power ministry constituted a working group and included All India Discoms Association, an organization that openly supported the privatization of the power sector, he said, adding that including such an organization for finalizing the legislation makes the entire process biased and unconstitutional.
According to the AIPEF statement, NCCOEEE will hold a meeting on March 9 in Delhi and invite Members of Parliament from all political parties to share the concerns over the adverse impact of the Bill on farmers, poor consumers and power employees.
MPs will be urged to oppose the Bill in Parliament, it said, adding that all affiliated federations have asked their members to prepare for the strike on March 10.
