‘Purchase of power from private players led to huge loss’

RAMANATHAPURAM

Purchasing electricity at high costs from private players over the past several years had led to a huge loss for the the electricity board in Tamil Nadu and it was not because of outgo on account of salaries and pension, said S Rajendran, State general secretary of Central Organisation of Tamil Nadu Electricity Employees, a constituent of CITU, here on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters, he alleged that the State government purchased power at ₹30 per unit and distributed them to the consumers, which led to losses. Instead of focusing on commissioning new and modern power generation plants, the governments engaged themselves in purchasing electricity at a prohibitive cost.

When asked reasons for frequent shutdowns at thermal power stations in Thoothukudi, North Chennai and Mettur respectively, he said that it was not correct to say that there was delay in coal procurement or rail wagons were not available for movement. The slackness and nonchalant attitude of the governments were the real reasons. Coal India gave the raw material to the plants on time.

Since the DMK promised to revoke the old pension scheme, if voted to power, the government employees and teachers voted for the party. Now, after coming to power, going back on their promise was unfair. The salaries and pension payments were mandatory. The State-level conference scheduled in August would deal with the issue on a broader perspective, he said.

The CITU leader said that Tangedco employees worked hard during the COVID-19 pandemic, braving all kinds of risks. The government should immediately fill up 52,000 vacancies in the Corporation as delay in appointments was leading to severe stress among the serving employees. He also wanted regularisation of contract workers who had been working for meagre salaries for over 10 years now.

Despite all the limitations, the Tangedco officials had given one lakh power connections to farmers in the last one year in Tamil Nadu as per the Chief Minister’s directive. The Tangedco should be provided with adequate supplies, including fuse wire, transformers and transformer oil.