The Telangana State Council of Communist Party of India (CPI) has requested the Union government to withdraw the proposed amendment to the Electricity Act immediately as they are detrimental to the majority sections of the society.
A protest demanding withdrawal of the proposed amendments was staged by the party in front of the Aaykar Bhavan here on Wednesday. National secretary of the party K. Narayana, State secretary Chada Venkat Reddy, Hyderabad district secretary E.T. Narasimha and the functionaries of other frontal organisations of the party participated in the protest wearing black badges, holding placards and raising slogans against the proposed amendments.
They also released a letter addressed to the Ministry of Power with a request to withdraw the amendments. Speaking at the protest, Dr. Narayana said, if enacted, the amendments would give rise to regional movements in several States and in case the movements reach villages it would be difficult for the Narendra Modi government to withstand it. He alleged that the Centre was trampling the rights of States in the federal set up and Mr. Modi was conspiring to reduce States and its Chief Ministers as Centre’s puppets.
Further, he alleged that the Centre had taken to large scale disinvestment through the back door when the country was under the lockdown forced by the coronavirus pandemic to privatise the profit-making public sector undertakings.
State secretary Mr. Venkat Reddy suggested Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to take along all parties opposing the amendments to build a strong movement. The amendments reduce all Discoms in States non-existent and allow the Centre to take over the power secretary completely. There were about 25 lakh agricultural pump-set connections in Telangana getting free power supply and the changes in the Act would deny all such subsidies and cross subsidies to many sections, he pointed out.
