Power engineers, electricity employees, and representatives of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha held a rally at Nuh on Tuesday expressing opposition to the proposed grant of a parallel distribution licence in Gurugram and Nuh revenue districts.
Event Context
Team Analysis
An AIPEF spokesperson said that the rally was addressed by Shailendra Dubey, the AIPEF chairman, Subhash Lamba, vice president, Electricity Employees Federation of India (EEFI), Ravinder Ghanghas, general secretary of Haryana Power Engineers Association and employee leader Suresh Rathi, SKM leader Yoginder Nain.
AIPEF chairman Shailendra Dubey said that permitting private companies to use the existing public distribution network while selectively targeting high-paying consumers would financially cripple state owned distribution utilities and impose a heavier burden on farmers, domestic consumers, and small commercial establishments. He said that electricity is an essential public service and should not be converted into a profit-driven business at the cost of public interest.
Dubey reiterated that the Electricity Act does not permit discrimination among consumers and that any attempt to create multiple licensees on the same public network would violate the principles of universal and equitable electricity supply.
AIPEF media advisor VK Gupta said that engineers have urged Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) to uphold transparency, fairness and larger public interest by rejecting the parallel distribution licence petition.
Gupta said it was resolved at the rally that the introduction of parallel distribution through private licensees would seriously undermine the public electricity distribution system, increase tariffs for ordinary consumers, weaken cross-subsidy, and ultimately pave the way for privatization of the power sector.
A memorandum was also submitted to the commission demanding immediate rejection of the parallel distribution licence petition and dissolution of the expert committee constituted by the commission.
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According to an All India Power Engineer’s Federation (AIPEF) statement, the organisations demanded withdrawal of the order constituting an expert committee and rejection of the application of Eleven Power Private Limited for the grant of a parallel distribution licence.
