Uttarakhand to deal with power corporation employees' call for strike strictly, implements ESMA in the state

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], October 3 : The State government of Uttarakhand has announced the implementation of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to ban the leave of the engineers and employees of the three power corporations of the state, said the state government on Sunday.
The decision comes on the backdrop of the indefinite strike announced by the engineers and employees of the three power corporations, starting from October 6.
"To cope up with the crisis, alternative arrangements have been made in the state for hydropower generation, and transmission of power supply," said the order issued by the state government.
The state government said that engineers and personnel from the BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal and Haryana as well as central power undertakings have been deployed in the state.
"The electricity system of the state will be handed over to the alternate personnel from Sunday," it added.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Dr SS Sandhu held a meeting in the Secretariat on Saturday and asked the top officers of the government, corporations, all district magistrates, and police captains to be on high alert.
"The police force will be deployed at all electrical installations," said the government order.
Notably, about 10 thousand employees are employed in Uttarakhand Energy Corporation, Hydroelectric Corporation and Electricity Transmission Corporation, out of which four thousand are regular and about six thousand are working on contract.
The Engineers and personnel of the three corporations have been agitating for a long time under the banner of Uttarakhand Electricity Officer-Employee United Sangharsh Morcha on the 14-point demands including old pension, old Assured Career Progression (ACP).