Major unions in the power sector will, on May 9, formally announce their decision to launch protests in Thiruvananthapuram against the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) move to adopt the TOTEX model for smart meter roll-out.
A decision was taken in this regard by the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) at a meeting here recently.
CITU State general secretary Elamaram Kareem, CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran, and INTUC State president R. Chandrasekharan will attend the convention. The NCCOEEE is also planning to undertake public campaigns, including house visits, to raise awareness of the issue.
An umbrella organisation of officers and workers organisations in the power sector, the NCCOEEE said the KSEB management is reluctant to discuss the findings of the high-level panel appointed by the State government to study the concerns raised by the KSEB unions.
Although Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty had directed the KSEB to halt the tendering process for the purchase of the meters, the KSEB management appears to have ignored it, the NCCOEEE alleged. It is in this context that the agitations are being organised, the unions said.
Agitation threatened
The decision has the backing of various officers’ and workers organisations, inlcuding those backed by the CITU, INTUC and AITUC and the KSEB Pensioners’ Association. In mid-April, the CITU-backed employees’ organisations had already threatened strong agitations if the decision on TOTEX model is not scrapped and replaced with a public sector-led project for the meter roll-out.
Unions assert that they are not opposed to smart meters. However, the TOTEX (total expenditure) model of implementation and the consequent outsourcing of electricity metering is in line with the privatisation policies of the Union government. The TOTEX model, according to them, would pave way for the outsourcing of the revenue-related activities of the KSEB.
