Articles · General Secretary, UT Powermen Union, Chandigarh
A monumental resistance: the Chandigarh struggle against electricity privatisation
Gopal Datt Joshi
Families on the road. Women leading the signature campaign. Sixteen states in a one-hour solidarity strike on 31 December 2024.
The Chandigarh struggle stepped out of the union hall. Elderly people, women and children held daily rallies in the sectors. They spoke to slum residents, villagers, vendors and the middle-class household. Collectivism was learned on that round.
Women led the campaign. A bus took the column from sector to sector. The target was one lakh signatures against the sale. Gender equity and the public grid were spoken as one question.
Village committees, resident welfare associations, independent women’s groups, gurdwara committees, farmers and youth formed an anti-privatisation forum. Meetings were held in gurdwaras. A class fight became a city fight.
On 31 December 2024 electricity employees in sixteen states sat out one hour in solidarity. Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir served notices that mistreatment of Chandigarh workers would bring strikes at home.
The Centre did not withdraw the sale. The unity did not break. That unity is the asset for the next round. A public department that serves the city is not a private licence.