Power engineers and employees from across the country will gather in Lucknow on April 9 to protest against the proposed privatisation of Uttar Pradesh’s power sector. National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers has called for the rally, demanding that the UP government immediately scrap the appointment process of a transaction consultant, calling it unlawful and corrupt.

“During a meeting in Chennai on Sunday, representatives from six southern states expressed serious concerns over the removal of the conflict-of-interest clause in the appointment process, warning that this move could lead to a massive scam in UP’s power sector privatisation,” All-India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) chairman Shailendra Dubey said in a written statement.

The committee urged chief minister Yogi Adityanath to uphold his zero-tolerance policy on corruption and immediately cancel the privatisation process.

Apart from Dubey, the Chennai meeting was attended by Coordination Committee convener Prashant Chaudhary, AIPEF secretary-general P Ratnakar Rao, Electricity Employees Federation of India secretary-general Sudip Dutt, All India Federation of Electricity Employees President G.S. Murthy, All India Power Men’s Federation president Samar Sinha, and All India Power Diploma Engineers Federation leader Sampath Kumar, along with senior office-bearers from Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu.

“The committee extended full support to UP’s power engineers and employees and warned against any harassment of protesting workers, stating that 27 lakh power sector employees across India would not remain silent and could be forced to launch a nationwide movement,” said Dubey who is spearheading agitation in UP as the convenor of the UP Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti that will continue its statewide protests on Monday as well.