The privatization of the electricity department in Chandigarh is proving to be a difficult task for the administration. The Central Government had ordered privatization of the department by January 2021, but the matter is hanging due to the repeated prohibitions by the High Court. So now the Ministry of Power has taken command in its own hands. An advisor has been appointed at the centre, who will now tell the administration what to do next. The UT administration had started the process of handing over the electricity department to private hands in the year 2019. When Corona knocked in the year 2020, the pace of the process stopped. After this, on 9 November 2020, the Engineering Department of the Administration sought applications from interested companies for privatization. The UT Power Man Union approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the process. After the hearing, the High Court had stayed the decision of the UT administration on 1 December 2020. The UT administration had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against this decision of the High Court. On January 12, the Supreme Court had stayed the High Court order and allowed privatization to go ahead. Meanwhile, the union again filed an application in the High Court in May 2021 and sought a stay on the process. Hearing this application on June 10, the High Court again stayed the process of privatization, but the administration again went to the Supreme Court. This time also the Supreme Court gave relief to the administration and removed the stay of the High Court. Due to repeated brakes, the work of privatization got stalled. So now the Ministry of Power has intervened and appointed a consultant to complete the matter expeditiously. The ministry has told the administration that now they will look into the whole matter and tell what to do next.
2021-07-09
