The ongoing strike by the technical staff of the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) has begun taking a serious toll on the power distribution network across the state. It has affected the restoration of electricity supply following faults getting delayed in several districts.As the agitation entered its fifth day on Saturday, almost the entire technical workforce, including linemen and assistant linemen, remained off duty, forcing the power utility to manage operations with a skeletal workforce.According to PSPCL sources, the absence of technical employees has severely disrupted the organisation’s ability to attend to power line faults, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas.Officials said the corporation has been compelled to rely on clerical and accounting staff to oversee the functioning of power feeders in various subdivisions. While these employees have been assisting in operational coordination, the lack of field staff has significantly affected maintenance and repair work.In Ropar district, sources said each subdivision is currently being managed by only four to five senior technical officers, including Executive Engineers (XENs), Sub-Divisional Engineers (SDOs) and Junior Engineers (JEs), who are shouldering the responsibility of maintaining the entire power distribution network.”We are being forced to work nearly 12-hour shifts every day. The available officers are handling both supervisory and operational responsibilities while depending on a very small outsourced workforce to attend to emergency breakdowns. It has become extremely difficult to manage the distribution system under these circumstances,” the official said while speaking on the condition of anonymity.Despite the disruption, PSPCL has so far managed to avoid any major collapse of the distribution network, though officials admitted that fault rectification is taking considerably longer than usual because of the shortage of trained field staff.PSPCL Chairman Basant Garg said the management was making continuous efforts to resolve the deadlock through dialogue with the employees’ unions.”We are continuously engaging with the unions to end the strike. Regular parleys are being held with the representatives of the employees. Most of the demands that fall within the jurisdiction of the PSPCL Board have already been accepted,” Garg told The Tribune.He, however, said that some of the key demands raised by the employees, including the release of pending Dearness Allowance (DA) and implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), require decisions at the state government level and cannot be resolved solely by the corporation, he said.The technical employees had initially announced a strike from July 21 to July 24. However, after negotiations failed to produce a breakthrough, the unions decided to extend the agitation till July 27.Meanwhile, the PSPCL management has warned striking employees that the no work, no pay principle would be enforced if they continue to remain absent from duty.With talks between the management and employee representatives scheduled later in the day, electricity consumers across Punjab will be hoping for an early resolution to the impasse.