UP electricity distribution department workers protest enters third day

The workers have been holding the sit-in protests in front of the Pashchimanchal Vidhyut Vitran Nigam Limited's chief engineer office at Ghaziabad since August 29 under the banner of Nivida/Samvida Karamchari Samiti.

A sit-in demonstration here by scores of contractual workers of the Uttar Pradesh electricity distribution department, protesting against an alleged move to sack them, entered the third day today.

The workers have been holding the sit-in protests in front of the Pashchimanchal Vidhyut Vitran Nigam Limited's chief engineer office at Ghaziabad since August 29 under the banner of Nivida/Samvida Karamchari Samiti.

The protesting workers include linesmen and substation operators of the state PSU PVVNL.

District president of the workers association Mahesh Samania said around 700 contractual workers, who have been posted in far away areas from their homes as a move to force them out of the department, are on the protest.

He said there are over 6,400 linesmen 7,900, who work tirelessly on meager wages to ensure round-the-clock power supply in the city, yet the government is out to sack them on the pretext of transferring them.

He said if the department wishes to sack the old staffers, it must give them provident fund since 2009.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)