Bathinda thermal plant shut, workers start indefinite stir

BATHINDA: Apprehensive and unclear of their future, hundreds of contract workers with the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP) that has been permanently closed from Monday, have started an indefinite protest. There are 600 contract workers at the plant.

Protesters, including regular and contract employees, carried out a march from the plant gate to the district administrative complex and burnt an effigy of the state government. Punjab State Power Corporation employees have also planned a rally at the plant on Wednesday (January 3). President of Con- tract Workers’ Union Rajinder Singh said, “Our families will suffer. Our stir will continue till the government reverses its decision to shut the plant.” President of GNDTP employees coordination committee Gursewak Singh said they will carry on with the struggle to force the state government to withdraw its decision.

Chief engineer GNDTP VK Garg said, “We are in the process of shifting employees including regular as well as contractual to other places. Till then, employees will continue at plant. No contract employee was stopped from joining office on Monday.”

On its part, the government has announced that there will be no retrenchment.

POWER ENGINEERS PROTEST OUTSIDE RUPNAGAR PLANT

Rupnagar Power engineers of Rupnagar thermal plant held a demonstration to protest against the closure of two units of 1,260 MW Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant at Ropar.

“The government has spread the falsehood that ₹1,300 crore per month would be saved after the closure of the thermal units at Bathinda and Rupnagar. The units must not be closed down,” said Rupnagar thermal plant chief engineer Amritpal Singh. PSEB Engineers Association leaders Satwinder Singh, Randhir Singh, Niranjan Singh, Sanjiv Jain and Vinay Kumar led the protests.