Jammu, Srinagar : Residents of many cities in Jammu & Kashmir faced power shut down on second consecutive day, as Power Development Department (PDD) employees continued their strike against the proposed privatisation of electricity in J&K .
The PDD employees have been on strike since Sunday against the J&K administration decision to privatise the department and merge it with the Power Grid Corporation of India.
Jammu University has postponed offline and online examination for undergraduate and postgraduate students today in view of the strike.
The PDD employees held anti-government protests in Srinagar and Jammu demanding in writing from the Lieutenant Governor that it has shelved the proposal of privatisation.
According to sources, while the administration parleyed with the PDD employees, it also visited several power distribution facilities in Jammu to speed up restoration of electric supply.
The administration in its talks with the employees was represented by divisional commissioner, Jammu, Raghav Langar and additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh.
The deadlock between the two bodies has put thousands of J&K residents in extreme hardship amid bone-chilling winter, while hundreds of COVID-19 patients are struggling to keep their oxygen concentrators on.
The government has made an appeal to employees to call off their strike and has offered to put on hold its privatisation plan, but employees are insisting on a written assurance.
Talking to reporters here, a spokesman of protesting employees said the employees are ready to call off strike provided government gives them in writing assurance for their four core demands, particularly regarding privatisation and release of their salaries.
