7 Lakh Electricity Staff Warn of Nationwide Stir

Hyderabad:The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has warned of a nationwide strike if the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 was cleared in Parliament with provisions for privatisation. The federation said millions of power engineers and 27 lakh electricity employees were prepared to protest against the move.

In a letter to power secretary Pankaj Agrawal, federation chairman Shailendra Dubey demanded immediate public release of the new draft prepared by the parliamentary standing committee on energy. He sought disclosure of the committee’s membership and called for stakeholders to be allowed to submit comments until March 31. Dubey noted that while revisions have already been suggested to the ministry of power, the draft remains undisclosed.

Dubey criticised Union power minister Manohar Lal Khattar for convening meetings with state power ministers on January 22–23 to build consensus on the bill. He alleged the agenda includes privatisation, franchisee models, and conditional financial packages aimed at securing passage during the Budget Session.

“Power engineers and employees will never accept power sector privatisation,” he asserted, questioning why states are being consulted while stakeholders are excluded from discussions on the revised draft.

Calling the timing “suspicious,” the federation accused the ministry of engaging stakeholders on the original bill while holding closed‑door talks on the revised version. Dubey said AIPEF’s National Coordination Committee core group will announce its anti‑privatization strategy after a meeting with the power secretary on January 12.