The Power Employees Joint Sangharsh Samiti, Uttar Pradesh has demanded that the Chairman of the Electricity Regulatory Commission should not approve the RFP document prepared by the Power Corporation for the privatization of Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam and Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam and cancel it immediately.
The Samiti said on Sunday that if the RFP document prepared in connivance with private houses is not canceled, the power workers would be forced to do a silent demonstration at the Regulatory Commission office.
The Sangharsh Samiti reminded the Chairman of the Electricity Regulatory Commission, Arvind Kumar, that on October 5, 2020, when he was the Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation, he had signed a written agreement with the Sangharsh Samiti, which states that electricity will not be privatized in any area in Uttar Pradesh without taking the electricity workers into confidence.
“Approving the document for privatization of Purvanchal and Dakshinchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam would be a blatant violation of this agreement,” they claimed.
In a statement issued here, the Samiti said the RFP document prepared by Grant Thornton, the transaction consultant illegally appointed for the privatization of Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam and Dakshinchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam, is a big scam under the guise of privatization.
The Sangharsh Samiti said that this RFP document has been prepared by the Chairman and Director Finance of Power Corporation Nidhi Narang in connivance with some selected private houses to help them.
Samiti said according to this RFP document, the reserve price for selling the assets worth Rs 1 lakh crore of Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam and Dakshinchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam has been fixed at only Rs 6500 crore. Thus, this is a document of loot.
Sangharsh Samiti demanded that the Electricity Regulatory Commission should immediately hold talks with Sangharsh Samiti to know the opinion of the electricity workers on the RFP document of privatization. Sangharsh Samiti said that the entire RFP document is a document of a mega scam.
Sangharsh Samiti said that just as the reserve price for selling Purvanchal and Dakshinchal Vidyut Vitran Nigams has been made negligible, similarly, by showing very high AT&C losses, the power system of Agra city was given to Torrent Power under Urban Distribution Franchise. The result of this is that Torrent Power Company is earning a profit of Rs 800 crore per year and the Power Corporation is incurring a loss of about Rs 1000 crore. Once again, the background for a big scam has been prepared by selling Purvanchal and Dakshinchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam at a reserve price of just Rs 6500 crore.