Burla: The 53rd annual conference of the Hira GTD Employees’ Union of Odisha State Electricity Board was held at the Power House Club in Burla. The program was presided over by Niranjan Panigrahi, representing the union. Satyabadi Bag, General Secretary of the State Electricity Employees Federation, attended as the chief guest and hoisted the union flag.
Narayan Singh, General Secretary of the Union, presented the annual report and highlighted various issues concerning the electricity department. Key issues discussed included:
Stopping the re-privatization of Odisha’s power sector,
Providing permanent employment to all working contract laborers, NMR, BA, and AMC employees,
Ending the practice of appointing temporary workers to permanent posts,
Ensuring equal pay for equal work for temporary workers until permanent appointment as per Supreme Court rulings,
Filling all vacant posts to improve consumer service,
Halting amendments to labor laws,
Withdrawal of the Electricity Act 2018,
Stopping the rollout of smart and prepaid meters,
Reinstating the old pension scheme for all employees and engineers,
Granting permanent employment to the legal heirs of deceased employees,
Providing medical allowance to pensioners,
Immediate reinstatement of suspended and dismissed employees under Tata Power,
Putting an end to the unofficial power cuts in the state.
The meeting resolved to bring these issues to the attention of senior departmental authorities and both state and central governments. Union officials and members from nine districts of western Odisha participated in the conference.
During the second phase of the conference, new office bearers for the 2025–26 term were elected:
President: Niranjan Panigrahi
Working President: P.V.R. Repti
General Secretary: Narayan Singh
Additional General Secretary: Purnachandra Sharma
Vice Presidents: Bhagaban Chhatria, T. Yogesh Rao, Hariram Sahu, Biplab Joshi
Assistant General Secretaries: Purnachandra Satapathy, K. Lachhman Rao
Joint General Secretaries: N. Gopal, K. Unnikrishna, Amlan Nayak
Treasurer: Usman Munda
Organizing Secretaries: P. Shankar Rao, Usman Munda, P. Damodar Rao
Secretaries: Bhaktachandra Tandi, Adwaita Nahak, Prakash Pradhan, Sudhir Pradhan
The Advisory Committee includes: Jaynarayan Mishra, Deepakranjan Nayak, Shukadev Raut, Gobardhan Gouda, Surendra Sahu, and Mayadhar Mahananda.
The newly elected President Niranjan Panigrahi expressed his gratitude at the conclusion of the conference.
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