BHUBANESWAR: Electrical engineers serving in different power utilities of the state, who are on protest since April 26 on their nine-point common charter of demands including cadre restructuring and restoration of the old pension scheme, have threatened to stage an indefinite stir from May 10.
Engineers of OPTCL, Gridco, OPGC and four Tata Power managed distribution companies under the banner of All Odisha Power Engineers Federation (AOPEF) have been demanding pay parity with electrical engineers of other states and time-bound revision of pay scale. In a memorandum to Energy Minister, the federation said in 2013 the state government upgraded the entry-level post of engineers of all departments from Grade II to Grade I but the same has not been done for power corporations.
The state government has already increased the number of posts at the upper level of its engineering cadre from 2021 to enhance promotional avenues but the same has been denied to engineers working in power utilities. The condition of engineers working in the four power distribution companies has worsened after Tata Power took over management.
The private management has created new posts outside the cadre and deprived the original engineers and officers of the benefit of promotion. Priority is being given to juniors from outside in all fields and engineering posts are not filled up after retirement. The dual cadre system introduced by AES Corporation is still in force in Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) even after the takeover of the company by the state government.
Even with the same work and responsibilities, the salary of the original staff is significantly lower than officers recruited from the open market, the memorandum said. Taking strong objection to tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) and asset monetisation of Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL), the federation said this is an attempt to privatise the transmission utility.
Similarly, engineers of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC), who are working in difficult conditions in remote areas, are being continuously neglected with regard to pay revision and promotion. While directors of power corporations are getting hefty salaries almost equal to central PSUs, they conveniently have turned down the request of salary hikes of engineers, officers and employees.