Power-sector employees and pensioners will form a human chain from Vydyuthi Bhavan, the headquarters of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) at Pattom, to Raj Bhavan on Thursday protesting against the Electricity (Amendment) Bill. The human chain will be formed at 4.15 p.m. as part of the ongoing agitations launched by the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE). MP and Centre of Indian Trade Unions State general secretary Elamaram Kareem, Communist Party of India State secretary Kanam Rajendran and Indian National Trade Union Congress State president R. Chandrasekharan will participate in the event. The Bill was presented in the Parliament on August 8 and was referred to the standing committee. If it gets passed, power tariffs will rise sharply, adversely impacting the farm sector and small industries, according to the power sector trade unions. Cross subsidy and subsidised electricity supply for the poor will vanish, they allege. As part of the agitations, the NCCOEEE is planning to take out a march to the Parliament on November 23.
