THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the eve of talks with Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty, the employees’ organisations in KSEB have warned the state government of going ahead with a strike if it does not heed to their demand to implement Rs 8,200 crore smart meter project in association with PSUs.
Minister Krishnankutty had orally blocked the tendering process, but the board has not frozen the tendering process where the deadline falls on April 29.
KSEB Officers Association and KSEB Workers Association had been spearheading the protest against implementing the smart meter project on the TOTEX (total cost of expenditure combining capital expenditure and operational expenditure) model.
While reiterating that they are not against the implementation of smart meter project, they maintained that their only disapproval is against the TOTEX model.
They have reasons to say so as their demand is that the government should utilise indigenous technology developed by C-DAC. M G Suresh Kumar, president, KSEBOA, and S Harilal, general secretary, KSEB Workers Association (CITU), told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that the main intention of the Central government is to bring in smart meters which would help them privatise the power sector eventually.
The duo also came down heavily on B Ashok, former chairman and managing director, KSEB, for
intervening in the internal matters of the board. “Following our protest, the chief minister had urged the power minister to constitute a technical committee to study the demands raised by trade unions. The committee submitted its findings on March 23. But much to our surprise, the full-time members of the director board went ahead with the tendering process on March 25. When we raised the issue before the power minister, he feigned ignorance and took immediate steps to put the smart meter project on hold,” said the office-bearers of the employees’ organisation.