The Haryana Electricity Employees and Engineers Joint Struggle Front on Monday deferred its three-day Statewide strike, scheduled from August 11 to August 13, by two months following an agreement with the Haryana government on several demands of power employees.

The decision was taken after a more than five-hour meeting between representatives of the Joint Struggle Front and the State government, chaired by Energy Minister Anil Vij.

As part of the understanding reached at the meeting, the government deferred the proposed launch of the Agriculture Distribution Company (DISCOM), which had been scheduled for August 15. Mr. Vij said there was currently no such proposal before the Ministry of Power and assured the employees’ representatives that the government would not take the matter forward in future without consulting the Joint Struggle Front and other stakeholders.

He said that although the proposal had been announced by the Chief Minister in the budget speech, no concrete action had been initiated at the departmental level so far. Mr. Vij added that he had also not held any formal discussion with the Chief Minister on the issue.

On the issue of a proposed parallel electricity distribution licence for Nuh and Gurugram, the government agreed to oppose the petition filed by a private company before the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC). The Energy Department had opposed the proposal from the outset and that the department’s objection had been approved at his level, said Mr. Vij.

The government also assured the Joint Struggle Front that no tender would be issued for the smart metering scheme in future. The Minister said consumers would continue to have the option of choosing between prepaid and postpaid smart meters.

Following the assurances, the Joint Struggle Front gave the government two months to implement the decisions agreed upon during the meeting.