Lucknow: The statewide strike by power sector employees hit a programme the India Expo Centre and Mart attended by two Uttar Pradesh ministers in Greater Noida on Sunday, according to a person who attended the programme, before it was called off later in the day.
The disruption left the hall where the curtain raiser for the first UP International Trade Show taking place in darkness for around two minutes. The event was attended by Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal Gupta and MSME Minister Rakesh Sachan, according to an official press communiqué.
However, there was no immediate response from local government officials over the disruption in power supply.
Employees called off strike after several rounds of talks between their leaders and state Energy Minister
A section of power department employees across the state were on strike since Friday, leading to disruptions in electricity supply in various areas. The employees called off the strike around 3 pm on Sunday after several rounds of talks between their leaders and state Energy Minister AK Sharma.
The employees had alleged that some of their demands relating to pay anomalies and outsourcing of operation and maintenance of power sub-stations, agreed to by the state government in December last year, were not fulfilled by power corporations even after three months.
Sharma had on Saturday warned of stern action against the employees on strike but maintained that the government was trying to establish a dialogue with the protesters to end the impasse.
No punitive action against striking employees
The minister assured that no punitive action would be taken against the striking employees and that orders of suspension and FIRs lodged against the leaders of the union would be withdrawn. Sharma appealed to the employees and engineers to resume duty and work for streamlining power supply in the state.
The strike by employees of all distribution companies and generating units of the state had crippled generation units of Obra, Anpara and Parichcha and plunged most of the rural areas in Uttar Pradesh into darkness for two days. Power supply in many big cities, including Prayagraj, Varanasi, Meerut and Kanpur, was affected by the strike.
The state government had evoked ESMA on striking employee leaders and an FIR had been lodged against 22 of them. The UP Power Corporation had also terminated the services of more than 3,000 contractual employees who were participating in the strike.
The Allahabad High Court had issued a bailable warrant against seven employee leaders and summoned them before it on Monday.
Sharma said on Sunday that discussions would be held soon to meet the demands of the employees. Joint action committee chairman Shailendra Dubey said the minister has agreed to consider all the demands raised by employees and there would be no penal action against any one.
