KARNAL: Haryana Power Engineers Association (HPEA) has adopted a path of confrontation with power utilities management against the issuing of show cause notice to the office bearers of Association.

The executive committee meeting of Association was held today at Karnal and it was decided to hold circle level meetings throughout Haryana to mobilize engineers for the protest. The management of power utilities under the control of an IPS officer has issued show because notices as the Association had asked its members not to go for power theft checking during night hours without proper protection after number of engineers were beaten by the public while performing official duties.

The executive committee pointed out that the workload at the level of SDO and XEN is unmanageable as the work load norms have not been revised and no restructuring exercise taken during the last two decades. The pay scales of Assistant engineers are lowest in the country and their pay anomalies have been pending for last so many years despite positive recommendations by the committee setup the utility.

The engineers have decided to hold a protest rally in Panchkula on November 19 in support of their demands and the high-handed Discoms administration under the control of an IPS officer who is using brutal police tactics to crush the engineers.

It may be mentioned that while carrying out raids for detecting power theft either the police protection is not provided or it remains totally mute. As a result, instances of engineers and staff being assaulted and injured by power thieves and their associates have multiplied enormously. The incidences of manhandling of engineers have been reported from Ambala, Karnal, Kaithal, Rohtak and Panipat circles while senior officials choose to look other way.