Electricity employees announce observance of Black Day on January 31st and participation in the strike on February 12th during protest rallies held today, January 30th, at various offices.

Electricity employees announce observance of Black Day on January 31st and participation in the strike on February 12th during protest rallies held today, January 30th, at various offices.

Chandigarh 30 January ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : Electricity employees in Chandigarh held protest rallies in front of their respective offices today, January 30, 2026, and announced that they will observe January 31, 2026, as a Black Day to protest against the illegal transfer of government electricity employees working under the Chandigarh administration to the private company Eminent without their consent. They accused the Chandigarh administration of acting illegally by transferring government employees to a private company without their consent and jeopardizing the future of more than 349 employees. Addressing the rallies, Union President Amit Singh, General Secretary Amrik Singh, Senior Vice President Gopal Dutt Joshi, Joint Secretaries Sukhwinder Singh, Kashmir Singh, Virender Singh, Vinay Prasad, Harjinder Singh, Ramgopal, Bhupinder Singh, Navdeep Singh, Navneet Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Pan Singh, Surjit Singh, Ram Gopal, Ajmer Singh, Tekraj, Surender Singh, and others strongly condemned the administration, stating that instead of taking action against the officials who are illegally handing over government property, the administration is using ESMA to suppress the struggle of government employees who are demanding their adjustment. 

The union leaders said that if the electricity employees are not government employees, then under what rule is ESMA being imposed on them, as ESMA does not apply to employees of private companies. Strongly criticizing the administration for giving baseless replies to the representations submitted by the employees, they alleged that instead of threatening the employees, the administration should adjust them against the more than 6000 vacant posts in various departments of Chandigarh. Union officials sharply criticized the working methods of Chandigarh administration officials, alleging that on January 31 of last year, the profitable electricity department was directly sold to a private company, and 349 employees were made scapegoats and pushed into the private company, Eminent, despite their protests, which they termed a dark chapter in the country's history.

They alleged that the then Chief Engineer of Civil Works, in collusion with a Superintending Engineer brought in from Haryana, hatched a deep conspiracy, betrayed the employees, and misled the government and senior officials by implementing a flawed tender system. They also stated that in 2022, the officials had acknowledged their mistake and promised to rectify it, but unfortunately, the current Chief Engineer and the officers working under him are repeating the same mistake and are handing over not only electricity distribution but also transmission to a private company. This is happening despite the notification of January 31, 2025, which stated that transmission assets would not be handed over to the company. However, that notification is being disregarded, and preparations are underway to hand over the assets to the private company before January 31, 2026, even though the company does not have a transmission license. The concerned officials of the department are also arguing legally to retain the transmission assets and are demanding additional staff for STU, SLDC, EI, and SDA, but their arguments are also being rejected. The speakers emphasized that no transmission assets should be handed over to the private company Eminent without adjusting the employees. This includes 11-66 KV, 5-33 KV, and 1-220 KV substations. If these assets had remained under government control until the company became a government entity, more than 250 employees could have been directly absorbed. However, the authorities were more concerned about the company than the employees. Therefore, only 43 of their preferred employees and officers were retained in STU, SLDC, EI, and SDA, all of whom had only 10-15 years of service in the department. On the other hand, employees with 25, 30, 35, and even 40 years of service were pushed into the company.  Under the pretext of the company incurring losses, 165 employees were given VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) in a single day, 22 disabled employees were adjusted in other departments, and 349 employees were left to fend for themselves, and have been struggling for the past year because they were abandoned to face the losses. 

They questioned the administration, asking how it is fair that some employees were adjusted in the department and other government departments to avoid losses, while the other 349 were sent to a private company? The administration remains silent on this matter, but the employees are losing their previously available benefits one by one. First, the allocation of housing was stopped, then they stopped receiving loans from banks, and concessions for school admissions were discontinued. Free treatment at government hospitals was stopped. They did not receive the promotions due in February, and reservations were curtailed; their government employee status was revoked. Even employees retiring during the 12-month provisional period are not being given pensions and GPF (General Provident Fund). The government is not issuing retirement orders or PPOs (Pension Payment Orders), and the Central Government Health Scheme is not applicable to them. Even employees on their deathbeds are not being given VRS under the central government rules for the past 6-7 months. Employees are only being shown false promises of pensions, computation benefits, and gratuity. As a result, they are feeling helpless and cheated at the hands of corrupt officials. They are hopeful and awaiting the court's decision, but the officials are not even willing to wait for the court's verdict, and various kinds of rumors are being spread. Therefore, today, all the employees have decided to hold daily rallies in their offices to launch a struggle and bring these corrupt and guilty officials to justice, who, for their petty self-interest, are trying to deprive employees who have completed 25-30-35-40 years of service of their government pensions. The union officials appealed to all employees not to succumb to the administration's threats and to observe January 31, 2026, as a Black Day and participate in the strike on February 12.