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The Uttarakhand government on Sunday imposed ESMA to ban the leave of the employees of Uttarakhand Power Corporation, Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited, and Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (PTCUL). The decision has come just three days ahead when the state’s power sector employees have planned to orchestrate a protest on October 6 demanding pay parity, revision of allowances, and regularisation of contractual employees.
ESMA stands for Essential Services Maintenance Act, which the government can invoke to prohibit striking employees from refusing to work in certain essential services which are necessary for the maintenance of normal life in the country.
Alternative arrangements have been made in the state for hydropower generation, transmission to power supply. Engineers and personnel from BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal, and Haryana have been deployed in the state to tackle the situation, in case of protest.
About 10,000 employees are employed in Uttarakhand Power Corporation, Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited, and PTCUL. Of these, 4,000 are regular and about 6,000 are employed on contract.
The debate between the state’s power corporation and the Uttarakhand government is not a new one. In July this year, the state government invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act, banning strikes for a period of another six months. State’s energy minister Harak Singh Rawat and government officials have held several rounds of talks regarding the 14-point demands of the power corporation staff, but the stalemate between the two has continued. Dissatisfied with the talks, the employees have announced to go on indefinite strike from October 6. As a result, the Uttarakhand government has made preparations to deal with the strike by invoking ESMA.
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