GUWAHATI: Reports of a possible merger of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) with other central public sector undertakings, or a strategic sale of the central government’s stake, have sent trade unions of the Shillong-headquartered PSU into a tizzy.
All the four trade unions of NEEPCO had a joint meeting here on Tuesday and unanimously opposed such a prospect, apprehending that it would be detrimental to the Northeast and defeat the very purpose of incorporating the PSU.
“The united trade unions of NEEPCO would therefore like to place on record our strong opposition to any move of the government to merge NEEPCO with other CPSUs or privatise NEEPCO, as this step shall have an adverse impact on entire Northeastern region,” Pradip Bhattacharjee, spokesperson of the trade unions, told reporters here on Tuesday.
However, there has been no official communication about such a move. Reports of a Cabinet approval to the appointment of a transaction consultant to oversee the “merger/sale” have also irked the trade unions.
“We have heard about the possibility from reports and through a section of the media. This has come as a shock to all of us as we firmly believe that it will not be a prudent decision considering the overall interest of the region. Operation of NEEPCO will be far more result-oriented if it is allowed to continue as a distinct corporate identity,” Bhattacharjee said.
The trade union representative further said that the Centre has from time to time been offering special packages to theNortheast to uplift the standard of living of the general populace and bring it on a par with the rest of the country.
“As such, implementation of such a move will definitely halt the process of socio-economic development of the region. We strongly urge upon the government to drop the move/idea/proposal,” he said.
A similar move was initiated in 2003 by the government,
but a united push against it by stakeholders in Northeast region, including members of the North East MP’s Forum, kept the proposal in cold storage.
NEEPCO was incepted as a government of India enterprise under the Union ministry of power on the recommendations of the North Eastern Council on April 2, 1976 with an aim to develop the region through planned electric power generation by harnessing the enormous power potential in the region.
The central government has 100 per cent stake in NEEPCO. Apart from 2300 employees directly absorbed by the central PSU, there are several hundreds of contractual workers and others who are indirectly engaged in it. Over 90 per cent of the workforce belongs to the Northeast.
The PSU operates nine projects across five Northeastern states, five hydel, three thermal and one solar, having generated 6,103.82 million units of power in 2018-19 and as much as 3,815.71 million units between April 2019 and September 2019.
“We are a profit-making organisation, having contributed every year to the central exchequer. A sum of Rs 115 crore was paid as dividend to the central government in 2018-19 and Rs 92 crore in 2017-18,” he said.