TANGEDCO pensioners to protest against not hiking of DA

CHENNAI: Retired employees of TANGEDCO to hold a novel “half naked” protest against not hiking dearness allowance for the pensioners on October 11.

The call for the half-naked protest was given by Tamil Nadu Electricity Board Pensioners Welfare Organisation.

TNEBPWO general secretary S Jagadeesan said that even after the state government hiked the dearness allowance for its employees two months ago, the TANGEDCO did not increase the DA stating that it has to get the government consent as it is a loss-making corporation.

However, the TANGEDCO hiked the DA for the serving employees subsequently and left the pensioners in the lurch.

“After the waiting protest held by the trade unions seeking scrapping of the board proceeding No 2, the TANGEDCO chairman and managing director has told the union representatives that they would get permission from the government at the earliest to hike the pensioners' DA even before getting exemption from the government for the board proceeding order. However, there is no confirmation on when the pensioners will get their DA hike, ” Jagadeesan said.

He said that on October 11, the male pensioners would protest half naked while women pensioners would protest with black masks. The protest would be held at the TANGEDCO’s circle headquarters across the state.

Staff strike: Paramilitary force deployed at Pondy power installations

PUDUCHERRY: A company of paramilitary force was deployed here on Sunday to ensure safety of the power installations, following a request by the Union Territory to the Centre. While the indefinite strike by the electricity department staff against privatisation entered the fifth day on Sunday, authorities said steps have been taken to restore power supply and the task has been completed in several areas. Home Minister A Namassivayam had held an emergency meeting with top officials. He told reporters that the government has requisitioned 24 officials of the Central power grid to tackle the current situation in Puducherry. He had also said the government has sought two companies of paramilitary force to guard power installations. The Minister said he had received reports that a section of the power staff entered certain sub-centres in rural areas illegally on Saturday and removed fuse carriers, causing outages.