The Jammu and Kashmir government’s decision to hand over the Union Territory’s power assets to a central government undertaking, seen as a ruse for privatisation, has triggered a strike by nearly 20,000 employees and plunged swathes of the region into darkness amid freezing cold.
Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s government has decided to enter into a joint venture with the Power Grid Corporation of India, turning the central entity into a 50 per cent shareholder in Jammu and Kashmir’s power assets.
The employees believe that privatisation will be the next step, especially with the Centre having told Parliament recently that it plans to privatise the power sectors of the Union Territories.
