Employees of the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) have launched an agitation against the purported move by the Union government to divide the utility into three different organisations for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.

The president of the DVC Staff Association, Ashok Ghosh, said Union power minister Manohar Lal Khattar had recently spoken in favour of splitting the central utility into three different organisations.

“The DVC is an institute of national pride. It was set up not only to generate power but also to improve irrigation facilities in a large part of Bengal. The DVC’s other mission was to promote pisciculture. If it is divided to generate, transmit and distribute power, the other purposes will be neglected,” said Ghosh.

He said the employees of the DVC were holding the agitation in Bengal and Jharkhand as they apprehended that dividing the DVC into three units was the first step to privatise the central utility.

“The staff association has sent a letter to the Union power minister to withdraw the decision of dividing the DVC. The employees wouldn’t allow the privatisation of the age-old organisation,” said Ghosh.