Kashmir Shivers in Cold as PDD Strike Continues.

Protest against power outages in Kashmir have been reported in many areas as the strike by power development department employees against privatisation continues.

Over 20,000 power sector employees had boycotted work around midnight on Friday in support of their various demands, including shelving of a proposed joint venture between the Jammu and Kashmir Power Transmission Corporation Limited and the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited.

The employees, from all unions and associations, from linemen to senior engineers, decided to go on indefinite strike after failure of talks with the government, and staged demonstrations in the twin capital cities besides in district headquarters for the second day on Sunday, a spokesperson of the coordination committee of power supply employees said.

Officials said many parts of the Union Territory witnessed total blackout due to the ongoing strike, as a result of which people are facing tremendous hardships due to non-availability of electricity and water supply, leading to protests by angry residents in Jammu city and other districts who are reeling under severe cold wave conditions.

The spokesperson said they had presented a four-point formula to the government, but it failed to accept their demands, including a white paper on non-fulfillment of the recommendations of the unbundling report and the failure to create positions as mandated by the committee at gazetted and non-gazetted levels, regularisation of daily wagers and all power development department engineers.

They are also demanding delinking their salary from grant-in-aid and releasing a regular budget for all PDD employees on deputation to different corporations and a white paper of service condition of PDD employees on deputation to the Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPL) and similarly situated employees deputed from the NHPC.

An official spokesman said the government of J&K, taking a sympathetic view of the issues raised, has engaged in several rounds of talks with the coordination committee of the power employees.

During each round of talks, the government representatives have appealed to the power employees to call off their strike as people in both Jammu and Kashmir divisions are suffering. In the wake of COVID-19 contagion and nail-biting cold in both the divisions, the coordination committee of the power employees is requested to end its strike, the spokesman said.

Reacting to the situation, Union minister Jitendra Singh expressed hope of a peaceful resolution to the issue at the earliest.

The administration is on the job the time cannot be stopped as we have to keep pace with development in the rest of the country. The employees are part of the society and if they feel insecure, it is the responsibility of the rulers to address their concerns and move forward along with them, he told reporters here.