No power employee will lose job: Minister

Lucknow: UP minister of energy and urban development A K Sharma on Wednesday told the Vidhan Parishad that decision to privatise power sector was still under discussion at various levels and no final decision was likely in the near future.Responding to concerns raised by Samajwadi Party members that privatisation would lead to expensive power and job losses for those in power sector, Sharma said several points were under discussion at various levels of officers, and final decision would be made with public interest in mind.The minister said he could guarantee nobody lost job and that employees had been given three options to choose from, as per their convenience.Earlier in the day, SP members accused BJP of wanting to privatise power sector to benefit certain industrial groups. With over 1.6 crore consumers likely to be impacted by the decision, SP said, govt should be taking care of their needs, as a private company will only care for its profits.SP MLC Shah Alam said of the five discoms, there was talk of Purvanchal and Dakshinanchal being privatised. This would lead to increase in power costs while assets worth several hundred crores of rupees of discoms would be sold off at throwaway prices. With no subsidies, weaving industry of Varanasi and other industries would be impacted adversely too, he said.
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