2 Power Department Staff Suspended After Blackout At Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s Jaipur Press Conference

Two officials of the Rajasthan State Transmission Corporation have been suspended following an inquiry into the power outage that disrupted Union Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s press conference in Jaipur earlier this week.

The incident occurred on June 11 when repeated tripping at the 400 kV Grid Sub Station (GSS) in Heerapura caused power to fail three times during the minister’s media briefing at the BJP state headquarters. The interruptions reportedly left Vaishnaw addressing journalists in darkness for nearly 13 minutes, raising questions over the reliability of the state’s power infrastructure.

Taking serious note of the incident, Rajasthan Energy Minister Hiralal Nagar ordered an investigation by a three-member committee. Based on its findings, the Rajasthan State Transmission Corporation suspended Assistant Engineer (AEN) Vipin Verma and Electrician First Babu Singh with immediate effect after they were found negligent in their duties.

The corporation also issued a charge sheet to Jaipur City Superintending Engineer (XEN) R.P. Gupta, seeking an explanation regarding the incident.

According to the official order, the suspended employees will remain attached to the office of the Additional Chief Engineer (IT), Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (RVPN), Jaipur, during the suspension period.

Energy Minister Nagar said negligence in the power transmission system, recurring tripping, and inconvenience caused to the public would not be tolerated. He directed officials to strengthen the grid and transmission network and implement effective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future, adding that accountability would be fixed and strict action would continue against those found responsible.