THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Eleven service organisations, including trade unions, in KSEB have announced a wide range of protests and house visits against the board’s decision to implement the smart meter project on TOTEX (total cost of expenditure combining capital expenditure and operational expenditure) model.
A convention held on Wednesday at BTR Bhavan under National Co-ordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers decided to organise house visits from May 15 to 30 explaining the issues included in the smart meter project across the state. The co-ordination committee will take out protest rallies from June 5 to 10. On June 10, thousands of employees will march towards Vaidyuthi Bhavan, the headquarters of KESB.
CITU general secretary Elamaram Kareem, MP, inaugurated the convention. He accused the Central government of imposing the smart meter on states as a short way to privatise the electricity sector.
“Kerala has no liability to implement it. This will make way for the introduction of external contract system in power sector,” he added.
INTUC general secretary R Chandrasekharan lauded the state government for its efforts to protect the KSEB. He also cautioned that the board management’s aggressive move will destroy the peaceful work atmosphere in the KSEB. Leaders representing different organisations spoke on the occasion.
Over the last six months, service organisations have been protesting against the board. Their main grievance is that the smart meter project being implemented on TOTEX model will only hamper the prospects of the consumers forcing them to cough up more on their bi-monthly power bills.
The service organisations demand that the `8,200- crore smart meter project should not be awarded to private companies. The trade unions demand that the smart meter project should be implemented through the country’s leading R&D institution, C-DAC, which has already developed smart meters.