Maharashtra: Employees of 3 state-run power companies call off strike

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Hours after employees of three state-owned power companies in Maharashtra started a three-day strike on Wednesday, the agitation was called off following the government's assurance that the utilities will not be privatized.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the energy portfolio, said the government had no intention to privatize state-run power utilities.

The decision to call off the strike was announced in the afternoon by Sanjay Thakur, president of the Subordinate Engineers Association, one of the unions participating in the 72-hour-long stir over a host of demands, following a meeting with Fadnavis.

Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd (Mahavitaran), Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Co Ltd (Mahapareshan) and Maharashtra State Electricity Generation Co Ltd (Mahanirmiti) are the state-owned power firms whose employees had gone on the strike earlier in the day.

Fadnavis said, a "communication gap" between the state government and agitating trade unions led to the stir.

"If a meeting had taken place between the state government and trade union representatives earlier, the strike wouldn't have happened," he said.

The deputy chief minister said the state government doesn't want any state-run company to be privatised.

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"One private company (belonging to Adani group) has applied for 'parallel distribution licence'. I want to make it clear that we are not supporting privatisation of these (power) companies,'' he said.

Maharashtra Rajya Karmachari, Adhikari and Abhiyanta Sangharsh Samiti, an action committee of 31 unions of power companies, had started an agitation last month over their various demands.

Their major demand was not to issue a 'parallel distribution licence' to the Adani Group's power subsidiary as they apprehended grant of the licence would have led to eventual privatization of state-run power firms.

In November last year, Adani Electricity Navi Mumbai Ltd, a subsidiary of Adani Transmission, had applied to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) for a parallel licence for power distribution under the jurisdiction of Mahavitaran in Bhandup, Mulund, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Taloja and Uran areas.

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