DW BUREAU Engineers of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) joined power engineers and employees from northern states in a day-long dharna on Tuesday at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi under the banner of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers(NCCOEEE)against the unilateral announcement of the central government to pass Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021 in the current monsoon session of Parliament, said V K Gupta Spokesperson of the All-India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF).On the first day of four days' protest, the dharna of engineers and employees was led by Shailendra Dubey Chairman AIPEF, and Prashant Choudhary convener. On Tuesday the engineers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, and Rajasthan participated. Hundreds of engineers and employees from each state participated. The protest will culminate on August 10 with a one-day work boycott by lakhs of engineers and employees across the country. Power employees and engineers across the country are agitating against the unilateral approach of the central Govt to rush through the Bill in Parliament. VK Gupta said that as the power ministry has refused to discuss the bill with engineers and employees, now it is Parliament's responsibility to carefully deliberate the electricity (amendment ) bill 2021 whenever presented before it and a detailed scrutiny of the process by the Standing Committee on Energy should be allowed. The bill passed in a hurry may fail to achieve its intended outcomes. The move to abolish the cross-subsidy in a time-bound manner and proposing a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to such consumers by the state governments will snatch away the rights of access to electricity for farmers and poor domestic consumers. He said the Central government seems more concerned over the profitability of private power companies. (editor@dailyworld.in)