Protest march to the Vydyuthi Bhavan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Protesting against the Kerala State Electricity Board’s move to terminate free power connections meant for downtrodden sections of the society, Electrical Wiremen and Supervisor’s Association of Kerala (CITU) would take out a protest march to the Vydyuthi Bhavan on Wednesday. Announcing the decision at a press meet, Association vice-president S Prabhakaran Nair said that the Board’s decision to deny free power connections to SC/ST and BPL families, farmers, military personnel and small scale industries would disrupt the complete electrification programme being pursued by the Board.  The government decision to cut free power supply was implemented from October 28 onwards.According to Prabhakaran Nair, the Board’s move was initiated against the backdrop of the Central Government’s privatisation policy being blindly adopted by the State Government.  “Free power connections were envisaged for the development of agriculture and commercial sectors, uplift of domestic economy and overall growth of GDP. But after private players ventured into the power sector, the policies of the Central Government has gone wayward,” he alleged.The Electricity Regulatory Commission Act of 1998 had provided opportunity for State Governments to restructure electricity boards. “It was in the light of the act, boards of several states were dissolved and unbundled into companies,” he alleged.The march would start from VJT Hall and conclude in front of the Vydyuthi Bhavan. Association state committee member A N Murali and Thiruvananthapuram district president S Sivadath were also present at the press meet.