Patiala, April 22
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Engineers, employees and pensioners has urged the Chief Minister to remove Power Minister Sanjeev Arora due to a prima facie conflict of interest and an ongoing investigation into family-linked land deals. Ajaypal Singh Atwal, General Secretary of the PSEB Engineers Association, said that the Joint Action Committee has written to the Chief Minister regarding the sale of PSPCL properties on the pretext of a government scheme, ignoring the serious concerns of all trade unions and associations of the Punjab Power Sector. “Further, as per media reports, investigations are being conducted by law enforcement agencies against certain real estate firms directly or indirectly linked to the family of the Power Minister,”, he added.
Atwal further said that this prima facie appears to be a case of conflict of interest, as certain realty firms whose deals are being investigated are owned, operated or managed by a close family member of the Power Minister. “This is a clear case of private interests clashing with public duty,”, he claimed.
JAC has been agitating against unilateral decisions taken by PSPCL on the alleged directions of the Power Minister to sell prime land of PSPCL/PSTCL meant for the development of the Punjab Power Sector. “It may be added that the Minister is not ready to listen to the concerns of the trade unions on this issue, which has impacted industrial peace in PSPCL. The sale of PSPCL lands cannot be left at the disposal of the Power Minister, whose conduct prima facie appears to be a conflict of interest,” claimed JAC.
JAC has urged the Chief Minister that the power department portfolio be changed to save the image of the government and in the interest of the Punjab Power Sector. They also expressed concern regarding the degrading power supply scenario in the state. Maintenance works should have been completed during the winter months but now under the pretext of maintenance PSPCL is imposing long power cuts across the state.
The Punjab Government had announced the establishment of the 2 × 800 MW Ropar supercritical units in the state sector to boost generation capacity, but is now dragging its feet and plans to award these units to the private sector. The ongoing agitation by employees over the past few months against increased political interference and policy reversals may not bode well for the power sector, especially during the coming paddy season. Even the CMD PSPCL has visited Patiala along with the Power Minister during the last few months.
