Outside the power department’s office on Gurgaon’s MG Road on Friday, Sushil Sharma joined thousands of electricity employees protesting the entry of a private power distributor in Gurugram and Nuh.An assistant foreman (technical) in the drawing department and state secretary of the All Haryana Power Corporation Workers’ Union, Sharma fears the move could threaten government jobs and leave consumers at the mercy of a private company.“Through privatisation, they are finishing government departments and jobs,” he said amid slogans of “Haryana sarkar muradabad (Down with the Haryana government)” and “Parallel licence nahi chalega (A parallel licence will not be tolerated).”“Look at what happens when the private sector enters education and health — the common man can no longer afford them. This is our worry here, ki voh apne manmaani se salary aur rate teh karenge (that they will decide wages and tariffs on their own). The masses will be affected,” he said. Workers on strike outside the power department’s office on Gurgaon’s MG Road on Friday. (Express Photo)Amid outages, thousands of electricity employees across southern Haryana are on a three-day strike to protest the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission’s grant of a 25-year parallel distribution licence to Eleven Power Private Limited for Gurugram and Nuh.Rakesh Yadav, city president of the Haryana State Electricity Board (HSEB) workers, and a technical department employee of the discom, voiced fears over public infrastructure. “They will use our infrastructure to charge the public exorbitantly. Once consumers shift substantially, they will hike rates, which will make the government discom poorer and subject to possible employee cuts,” Yadav claimed.How unions built supportThe widespread participation of field staff followed weeks of internal outreach across 300 divisions to explain the implications of the licence to employees.Story continues below this adSudip Datta, General Secretary of the Electricity Employees Federation of India (EEFI), told The Indian Express, “We have educated our employees. Not all linemen or gangmen may not know the entire thing, but they have a broad idea. That is why the strike has become so successful.”Datta said employees also recognised the potential consequences for their jobs if the public discom lost ground. “If the company goes down, its area of operation shrinks, then obviously there will be an impact on employees,” he said.Gurugram accounts for around 40% of the revenue generated by the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), according to employees. Datta argued that losing this hub would leave the state discom more dependent on “subsidised, loss-making rural areas”, putting further strain on its finances and potentially paving the way for more privatisation.To widen the agitation, unions have formed a joint platform comprising more than 45 organisations, including farmer outfits and trade unions.Two demandsStory continues below this adThe unions have put two demands before the government: invoke Section 108 of the Electricity Act, 2003, to direct the regulator to cancel the licence in the public interest; and have Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini publicly declare that Eleven Power will not be allowed to operate within DHBVN’s network.Datta pointed to precedents in Navi Mumbai and Karnataka where state leaders intervened to block private licences. “If the head of the administration says, then no company can enter into Haryana against the will of the government,” Datta said.On Thursday, the Chief Minister said the state will appeal against the HERC’s decision before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL). He added that the government is prepared to engage lawyers chosen by the unions to represent the case.Haryana Energy Minister Anil Vij also said the state would move APTEL within five to six days to seek an immediate stay on the order. “The government did not invite any applications seeking privatisation… the licence was granted despite our stiff opposition,” he had said, adding that the government was prepared to take the matter to the Supreme Court if the appellate tribunal does not provide relief.Story continues below this adEleven One had in September maintained that its entry is not privatisation.“Privatisation, wherever it has happened in India, meant a takeover: a public network, its assets and its workforce handed over to a private operator, with the public utility ceasing to exist in that area. A parallel licence is the opposite of a takeover. Nothing is handed over. The existing utility continues exactly as today with its network, its staff and its consumers,” its spokesperson had said.“What changes is that a second network gets built alongside it, with our own capital, at our own risk. There will be two networks, both regulated, and the consumer decides”, its spokesperson had told The Indian Express.