Nearly 30,000 employees of three Maharashtra government-run power utilities on Tuesday went on a flash strike, protesting against a proposal to bring in an electricity distribution franchise in Aurangabad and Nagpur circles of the state.
Maharashtra State Power Generation Co Ltd (Mahagenco), Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Co Ltd (MahaTransco) and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (MahaDiscom) put together have about one lakh employees.
A spokesperson for MahaDiscom said about 25,000 to 30,000 employees of the three utilities have struck work on Tuesday. However, operations have not been impacted, he said.
“They (employees) are on a one day strike. This is in protest against the franchise proposal for overall maintenance and distribution of electricity in Aurangabad and Nagpur circles. However, operations across the state continue to function smoothly,” the spokesperson told PTI.
“They are against the franchise because a private company will conduct interviews and select some candidates on merit. There will not be job losses but the rest will have to relocate,” the spokesperson said.
Mahadiscom has invited bids for overall distribution activities in Aurangabad and Nagpur in an attempt to cut down transmission & distribution (T&D) losses, which currently stand at over 40 per cent.
