Bhubaneswar: The Energy department of Odisha government has urged the Director General of Police to ensure stringent enforcement of ESMA on employees of all power utilities in the state.
The state government has promulgated Essential Services Maintenance Act,1988 (ESMA) on power utilities such as GRIDCO, Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL), Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC), Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) and power distribution companies on October 21, 2024 for a period of 6 months to prevent any incidence of strike and maintain industrial peace. The order is in force till April 20, 2025.
In a letter to the DGP YB Khurania on Friday, Energy Department, Principal Secretary, Vishal Dev said degree and diploma engineers of Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Ltd (TPCODL) staged a dharna outside the corporate office here in protest against their routine transfer leading to law and order situation.
The senior management of the company and even female employees were denied exit from the building even after office hours recently. The situation was brought under control after the intervention of police administration, he said.
Against such unruly behaviour of the demonstrators, the power distribution company management initiated disciplinary proceedings and lodged FIRs against four association leaders and seven other engineers.
Subsequently, after the intervention of Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, the transfer orders were modified and TPCODL management decided to withdraw the departmental proceedings as a goodwill gesture.
However, the protestors have decided to take their demonstration to the next level by gathering in large numbers from February 11 demanding immediate withdrawal of the charge sheet against the 11 officials, Dev said.
“This unfortunate incident, despite the promulgation of ESMA, is not permissible and needs stringent action against the offenders so that such audacious behaviour can be checked and its occurrence can be prevented in future,” he told the DGP.
Considering the necessity of continued operation of the power sector as a whole in the interest of the general consumers, he urged the DGP to ensure strict enforcement of ESMA over all the power utilities.
In case of any breach of act by any association/official, stringent action as permissible may be taken to prevent such incidents in future, he suggested.
PTI
