New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) Around 27 lakh members of power engineers' body AIPEF on Friday held a nation-wide agitation against the government's attempt to privatise two discoms of Uttar Pradesh, its Chairman Shailendra Dubey said.
The protests were held in various states against the move of the government to privatise Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (PVVNL) and Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (DVVNL) discoms in UP, Dubey said.
"We have 27 lakh members and all of them participated in Anti-Privatization Day protest observed today," the All India Power Engineers' Federation (AIPEF) Chairman said.
Dubey also said the power department of Chandigarh is being handed over to a private entity for Rs 871 crore whereas its assets cost Rs 22,000 crore.
On what basis will the assets worth billions of rupees of discoms PVVNL and DVVNL worth billions of rupees be handed over to private houses, he said.
Protests were held in Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayawada, Guwahati, Nagpur, Raipur, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Shimla, Jammu, Srinagar, Dehradun, Patiala, Ranchi, etc.
Dubey alleged that it is a conspiracy to sell assets worth billions of rupees of Purvanchal and Dakshinanchal Electricity Distribution Corporations at throwaway prices.
The two discoms alone cover 42 out of 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.
The chairman added that protests will continue and reach Jantar Mantar in the national capital if the process of privatisation of discoms continues.
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