Members of the Andhra Pradesh Power Employees’ Joint Action Committee in Krishnapanam has decided to intensify agitation, coinciding with the two-day nation-wide strike from Monday, to put pressure on the YSR Congress Party government to drop the move of privatisation of the Sri Damodaram Sanjeeviah Thermal Power Station (SDSTPS).
JAC leader G. Srinivas said it was unfortunate that the government was hell-bent on handing over the operations and maintenance of the 1,600-MW plant, the first in the State to generate power using super critical technology, to private firms.
The JAC members would hold discussion with the officials of the AP-Genco, which had put on hold the transfer of a union leader spearheading the stir, on March 30 and decide their future course of action on saving the power plant.
Meanwhile, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Andhra Pradesh unit president Ch. Narasinga Rao said the government's decision which was akin to ''selling cow to buy cow milk'', should be fought against tooth and nail as it meant the power cost going up for the common people in the long-run with independent power producers ruling the roost.
