Puducherry electricity dept staff call off strike

The decision came following an assurance by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy that he would persuade the Centre to drop the move to open up power distribution in Puducherry.A release from office of the Chief Minister said Tuesday that Narayanasamy along with officials of the Electricity Department held talks with representatives of the Union of Electricity Department Employees earlier in the day.

Employees of the Department of Electricity of Puducherry on Tuesday called off the week-long strike to protest the Centre's move to privatise power supply in the union territory. The decision came following an assurance by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy that he would persuade the Centre to drop the move to open up power distribution in Puducherry.

A release from office of the Chief Minister said Tuesday that Narayanasamy along with officials of the Electricity Department held talks with representatives of the Union of Electricity Department Employees earlier in the day. The release said the Chief Minister assured the union representatives that he would hold discussions with the Power Minister along with a delegation of the union next month to persuade the Centre to drop its move to privatise distribution of power supply here.

He also told the employees union representatives that the territorial government had already registered its strong protest against the Centre's move to privatise the power sector in Puducherry.