Power Minister K Krishnankutty holds talks with KSEB officers, ends stalemate

Demand to reinstate the transferred officials in their incumbent positions will be considered in a week’s time, says power minister
Kerala Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty
Kerala Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Following the intervention of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Wednesday’s talks between Power Minister K Krishnankutty and KSEB Officers’ Association were fruitful. After the online meeting with the protesters, Krishnankutty informed the media that their demand to reinstate the transferred officials in their incumbent positions would be considered in a week’s time.

Krishnankutty also said the disciplinary action against the protesting officials would be dealt with legally and without any vindictiveness. The first phase of the eight-day-long indefinite protest by the KSEBOA members partially ended on Tuesday after discussions took place in the CPM secretariat meeting. A section of CPM leaders even alleged corrupt practices by the power minister and CMD.

It is reliably learnt that Palakkad district CPM secretary E N Suresh Babu went to the extent of demanding that the power ministry should be taken back by the CPM from JD(S). On Tuesday, Pinarayi summoned Krishnankutty to his office and demanded that the latter must ensure that the protest was called off immediately or he would be deemed responsible.

This led the KSEBOA members to stop their first phase of protest and also saw Krishnankutty taking the initiative to hold talks with them on Wednesday. But high drama prevailed in the online talks which saw a war of words between KSEB CMD B Ashok and KSEBOA president M G Suresh Kumar when the former raised a ‘point of order’. The latter got ruffled when Ashok demanded that his views should be spoken within two minutes. Later, Krishnankutty said the protestors’ grievances will be taken up as per procedures and precedence. “The talks have been fruitful. Since KSEBL is a company, the decision has to be taken by the board. The LDF government has limitations in intervening in the dispute. The board will inform the government about the outcome within a week,” said Krishnankutty.

If their demands are not met, the KSEBOA members have decided to intensify their protest from May 16. Suresh Kumar exuded confidence that the board will consider their grievances at the earliest. “The KSEBOA has been engaged in preparing the documents for its meetings with the people and officials of the local bodies. By Wednesday evening, our colleagues had already met more than 100 panchayat and municipal members across the state,” said Suresh Kumar.

They have five major demands -- stall the transfer order of the three KSEBOA officials and reinstate them in their incumbent positions, cancel the disciplinary action mooted against 18 officials who had barged into the board room, the CMD should withdraw his anti-women remarks and express regret, the board must not move unilaterally and the trade unions should be taken into confidence, and the board should not ban protests by the trade unions.

POWER MIN CLAIMS RS 1,400CR PROFIT
T’Puram:
Power Minister K Krishnankutty said that for the first time ever since the KSEBL became a company, the board has achieved close to Rs 1,400 crore profit. More than 2,600 employees will be promoted which has been pending for a while. This was decided in the talks the power minister held with various trade unions, mainly with workmen associations. Krishnankutty has given credit to the LDF government in power for the second term, workers of the board, the excellent performance of officers, excellent dam management and domestic power generation for the profit achieved.

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