Haryana power employees and engineers have announced a three-day statewide strike from October 22 to protest against the proposed privatisation of power distribution and the decision of the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) to grant a parallel distribution licence to private company Eleven Power Private Limited for Gurugram and Nuh districts.The strike has been announced by the Haryana Bijli Karamchari and Engineers Sanyukt Sangharsh Morcha, which alleged that the government had ignored its earlier strike notice and continued with what it termed “anti-employee and anti-consumer” decisions.In its revised strike notice, the Morcha said HERC had granted Eleven Power a 25-year parallel distribution licence for Gurugram and Nuh on October 18, a day before Dussehra.It termed the decision “anti-people and anti-employee” and alleged that the move was aimed at handing over profitable areas to private players and weakening the state-owned Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN).The Morcha said that despite assurances given by the Power Minister at a meeting on August 10, no positive action had been taken on its demands or earlier strike notice. Instead, it alleged, the process of handing over the power sector to private players had been accelerated.“The situation has become extremely critical,” the Morcha said, announcing that the agitation would be intensified to protect the interests of power employees, engineers, farmers and consumers. The complete statewide strike will be observed from October 22 to October 24.The employees’ body said its earlier notice had warned that if privatisation policies were implemented, it would be treated as advance notice for an indefinite strike without any separate notice.Following HERC’s decision to grant the licence, the Morcha said it believed the government was unwilling to hold talks, leaving employees and engineers with no option but to strike.The Morcha warned that if a concrete decision was not taken before the strike on its demands and the cancellation of the parallel distribution licence, the government would be responsible for any industrial unrest that might emerge in the future.