Statewide agitation in Haryana against parallel power license, Agri DISCOM and smart meters

Farmers, electricity employees, workers and consumer organizations on Tuesday announced a statewide agitation against the Haryana government’s proposal to license parallel electricity distribution in Gurugram and Nuhu, create a separate Agri DISCOM and introduce smart metering across the state.

A joint platform, the Haryana Electricity Employees & Consumers Struggle Forum, was set up in a meeting called at the employees’ hall in Rohtak to spearhead the movement.

The meeting was convened at the initiative of All Haryana Power Corporations Workers Union and was jointly chaired by State Union President Suresh Rathi, HSEB Union President Anil Kaushik and Haryana Power Corporations SC/ST & BC Union State President Vijender Singh Barar. The forum decided to launch the agitation with mass demonstrations in Nuh on July 21 and Gurugram on July 22, followed by protest programs in all districts of Haryana till August 8.

“Against the People”

Addressing the gathering, National President of the Indian Electricity Employees Federation and All India Government Employees Federation Subhash Lamba said the proposed changes are aimed at privatizing the public power distribution system. He termed parallel licence, Agri DISCOM and smart metering as measures “against people and employees” and called for a broad-based democratic struggle against them.

All Haryana Power Corporations workers’ union president Devender Singh Hooda said the state’s distribution grid was built with the hard work of more than 8,000 employees and “under no circumstances will it be allowed to be handed over to private companies”.

Farmer leaders also joined the protest call. Inderjit Singh and Ratan Singh Mann of the Joint Kisan Morcha criticized Eleven Power Private Limited for allegedly mobilizing several consumers in support of its parallel distribution license application during a public hearing held on 8 July. They said thousands of stakeholders, including employees and consumers, had objected to the proposal. The Haryana Power Distribution Corporation also raised legal and technical objections and sought dismissal of the petition, they added. However, instead of rejecting it, the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has set up a three-member committee to examine the objections and submit a report within 15 days, after which a final decision will be taken.

Farmer representatives alleged that the proposed Agri DISCOM was an attempt to weaken the existing power subsidy mechanism for agriculture. Leaders said the fight forum would step up its campaign in the coming weeks to pressure the government and regulator to withdraw the proposals.

Published – 15 Jul 2026 01:07 IST