NewsClick

NewsClick
  • हिन्दी
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Covid-19
  • Science
  • Culture
  • India
  • International
  • Sports
  • Articles
  • Videos
search
menu

INTERACTIVE ELECTION MAPS

image/svg+xml
  • All Articles
  • Newsclick Articles
  • All Videos
  • Newsclick Videos
  • हिन्दी
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Science
  • Culture
  • India
  • Sports
  • International
  • Africa
  • Latin America
  • Palestine
  • Nepal
  • Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka
  • US
  • West Asia
About us
Subscribe
Follow us Facebook - Newsclick Twitter - Newsclick RSS - Newsclick
close menu
×
For latest updates on nCOVID-19 around the world visit our INTERACTIVE COVID MAP
Politics
India

General Strike: Assam’s Power Sector Employees Protest Against Privatisation of APDCL

The foreseeable privatisation of the APDCL is due to the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020, and the standard bidding document (SBD).
Newsclick Report
28 Nov 2020
Strike at Bongaigaon, Assam.

Strike at Bongaigaon, Assam.

Workers and employees from Assam’s state-run power distribution also took part in the all India General Strike on November 26 with massive protests.

The workers were in support of the general demand charter of the strike and are opposed to the privatisation of the APDCL (Assam Power Distribution Company Limited). The APDCL was incorporated on October 23, 2009 as a public limited company wholly owned by the Government of Assam.

The foreseeable privatisation of the APDCL is due to the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020, and the standard bidding document (SBD).

The state of Assam has an average peak demand for 1400 MW of electricity while the state produces only 200 MW on its own. The state has three functional power projects which produce lesser power than the state requires. The first is the Karbi Langpi Hydel Power Project, the other is the Namrup Thermal Power Station (NTPS) and finally, there is the Lakuwa Thermal Power Station (LTPS). There are a few more projects which have been under construction for a long time, those which are still not complete despite wide-scale protests in October last year.

The unfinished projects had been planned in places like Margherita in Nagaon, where the Kopili river was to be harness for producing electricity. However, the most significant case of mismanagement by the government is the NRPP (Namrup Replacement Power Project), work on which had begun way back in 2009; it was supposed to produce 100 MW of power. The construction project was undertaken by BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited) and the current BJP government led by Sarbananda Sonowal has not been successful in finishing it.

Assam’s gross deficit of power is met by procuring electricity from other parts of the country, a process where the government spends more in buying in comparison to what it gets from the tariff paid by the people of the state. However, the per unit electricity price has been subsidised by the state government and is determined by the AERC (Assam Electricity Regulation Commission), a body where public grievances can be registered.

As a result, employees say that the power sector in Assam, which is already in deficit, can not bear to sell off its infrastructure to private players (the SBD lays the foundation for that).

Speaking to NewsClick, Brojen Bori, the president of the ASPWU (Assam State Power Workers Union), a prominent union of the power sector workers, explained how the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill and the SBD will hamper thousands of workers and employees working in the sector.

“After the SBD was declared, a nine member committee was formed by the Assam Govt. which was to submit their recommendations on the implementation of the SBD. We still don’t know anything about the decision of the committee. However, going by the SBD, it will be devastating for the power sector in Assam if implemented. The SBD would allow the sale of infrastructure resources at throwaway prices to private players. Later on, a private enterprise may also demand land which currently with the APDCL. Moreover, the SBD would render the AERC defunct and, as a result, there will be no scope for public grievances when the price per unit of electricity will be much higher than what is today. The state government subsidy will also go away. In addition, there will be a massive job loss when the APDCL will be privatised,” he said.

The ASPWU led protests in at least 15 districts across Assam. The 19 circles in the state and two project sites also registered protests, according to Amit Kar, the general secretary of the ASPWU. Kar told NewsClick that the workers and employees supported the marching farmers and bringing back the earlier labour codes and the old pension scheme in place of the National Pension Scheme (NPS).

Strike at NTPS, Assam

Strike at NTPS, Assam

The electric supply in rural Assam is still very poor. Distribution of power to the rural areas, where the population density is scarce, incurs a greater cost to a power distribution company. “This situation will be aggravated if the sector is given to private companies which only look at profits. The APDCL gets a subsidy from the state government and the new regulations would foresee ably scrap all the subsidy provisions. The Sonowal government at the state and the Modi government at the Centre don’t pay any attention to the plight of the people,” said Rakesh Chakravarty, an activist from Goalpara associated with the Assam Pradesh Youth Congress.

Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
Assam
Assam Power Sector Employees
Assam Electricity
Assam Power Sector
General Strike
November 26
Privatisation
APDCL
Related Stories
Assam Tribles land.

Assam: Tribal Farmers from Mikir Bamuni Villages Allegedly Face State Violence for Demanding Their Land Rights

protest 2020

2020: Of Derailed Disinvestments and Rejuvenated Employees’ Movements

assam land.

People Without Land: Assam’s Laika-Dodhia Villages Continue Struggle for Rehabilitation Even After 70 Years

People Fight Back a Hostile Government

The Year That Was….People Fight Back a Hostile Government

‘Stop Privatisation of Profit-Making Shipping Corporation’, Demand Unions

‘Stop Privatisation of Profit-Making Shipping Corporation’, Demand Unions

‘India Heading Towards Being a Failed State’

‘India Heading Towards Being a Failed State’

fARMERS pROTEST COVER.

Resistance in the Face of Repression: Stories From Protesting Farmers at Delhi’s Border

bharat bandh

20,000 Protest Sites, 22 States: Farmers’ ‘Bandh’ Call Leaves No Corner Untouched

Singhu borders

‘Delhi Chalo’: The Anatomy of a Well-Organised Protest at Singhu Border

TN This Week: Cyclone Nivar Causes Severe Crop Damages, North Chennai Residents Allege Neglect, Over 50,000 Detained During Nov 26 Strike

TN This Week: Cyclone Nivar Causes Severe Crop Damages, North Chennai Residents Allege Neglect, Over 50,000 Detained During Nov 26 Strike

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare via EmailShare on RedditShare on KindlePrint
Share
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare via EmailShare on RedditShare on KindlePrint
Share

Related Stories

Newsclick Report

CITU Condemns Govt. Move to Divest 10% Stake in SAIL, Says it Will Benefit Corporates

14 January 2021
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has condemned the Centre for its “desperate move” to divest ten per cent of
Taha Amin Mazumdar

Assam: Ahead of Polls, is Govt-Run Madarsa Closure Another BJP Polarisation Bid?

14 January 2021
With the assembly polls in Assam on the horizon the state chapter and government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is clearly making a bid to gai
Newsclick Report

Unions in PSUs Extend Solidarity to BEML Employees’ Relay Dharna

13 January 2021
As the BJP-led Centre moves ahead with the disinvestment of BEML Limited (formerly Bharat Earth Movers Limited), the employees at various units acr

Pagination

  • Next page ››

More

  • At Civic Workers’ March in Delhi, Utensils Banged to Press for Pending Salaries

    At Civic Workers’ March in Delhi, Utensils Banged to Press for Pending Salaries

  • US Blacklists Xiaomi, CNOOC, Skyrizon, Raises Heat on China

    US Blacklists Xiaomi, CNOOC, Skyrizon, Raises Heat on Chinami

  • MP Farmers to Intensify Protests, Announce Indefinite Protest in Bhopal from Jan 21

    MP Farmers to Intensify Protests, Announce Indefinite Protest in Bhopal from Jan 21

  • At Least 34 Dead as Quake in Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island Topples Homes, Buildings

    At Least 34 Dead as Quake in Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island Topples Homes, Buildings

  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with
about