KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has directed the state government to initiate conciliatory talks between KSEB and members of its officers’ association and try to arrive at an amicable settlement of the dispute between the parties so that power supply is not disrupted because of the staff strike.
Kerala State Electricity Board has informed the Kerala High Court that it is difficult for the board to prevent disruption of power supply in the state since members of the officers’ association have launched a strike, non-co-operation and ‘work to rule’. Therefore, the board cannot ensure the uninterrupted supply of electricity to its consumers.
On the days of strike, power disruption in the state was 50% more in comparison with the normal days, which is likely to increase if the agitation persists, the board said in its submission made in response to the batch of petitions against the strike called for by the KSEB Officers Association.
Opposing the submission, the counsel for the association said it has not resorted to a strike but has only conducted a ‘relay satyagraha’, that too after availing leave from the board. The satyagraha is being conducted by the members of the association as a part of collective bargaining for which they have a right. Then, the court directed the KSEB’s counsel to get specific instructions to ascertain whether the officers who participated in the satyagraha had availed leave.
The board’s counsel said the participants in the strike conducted between April 5 and 19 had been absent without being granted valid leave. Not more than 5% of the participant employees have availed of medical leave. The customers across the state were inconvenienced due to the unauthorised absence of about 400 officers who left office without making alternative charge arrangements.
The customers had to be turned away from approximately 100 offices due to the unauthorised absence of the officers. Now, the association proposes to launch an indefinite fast before Vydyuthi Bhavan, which is impermissible as per the rules. If the indefinite strike goes on, it will derail the service level applications of the utility and cause huge commercial losses which will, in turn, affect the revenue commitments to procure power and defray the employee charges in May 2022.
The court stated that the board, which is a state public sector undertaking, has a monopoly in the generation and supply of electricity in Kerala. The board’s consumers have a right to enjoy an uninterrupted power supply. Therefore, any disruption in power supply due to the cessation of work, concerted refusal, or delaying of work by the employees would prejudicially affect and inflict grave hardship on the normal life of the citizens in general and board’s consumers in particular, which necessarily has to be prevented by the state.