Power Crisis Worsens as Protests by PSPCL Workers Continue

July

2026

Contractual and outsourced workers at thermal power plants in Rupnagar and Lehra Mohabbat, Bathinda district, called off their strike on 1 Jul, after the Panjab government agreed to their demand for direct contractual engagement with Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). The Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited announced the transition of its outsourced workforce to direct contracts, following a state policy decision, and the Panjab government resolved the major strike. PSPCL announced that agricultural feeders across the state were receiving up to 20 hours of electricity supply to compensate farmers for the shortfall during the peak paddy transplantation season. PSPCL Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Dr. Basant Garg, said the state's power situation had returned to normal and agricultural feeders had been receiving up to 20 hours of electricity over the past 24 hours. Panjab’s peak power demand touched 17,147 MW on 29 Jun and 17,085 MW on 30 Jun. Following recent rainfall, the demand declined to around 14K MW. However, the outsourced workers resumed their indefinite strike immediately after alleging that PSPCL had failed to honor its commitment regarding their absorption under departmental contracts. Protests by outsourced employees, including meter readers, intensified outside the PSPCL head office in Patiala, as demonstrators briefly surrounded the main entry gate of the power utility's headquarters and 20 meter readers climbed a nearby water tank. The protesters continue to demand regularization of services, release of pending salaries, and clearance of other dues. The president of the Outsource Employees Union, Harvinder Sharma, alleged that despite the Panjab government's assurances, the PSPCL management had failed to initiate the regularization process. Additionally in Jalandhar, regular employees launched a work-to-rule protest, raising concerns over further delays in grievance redressal and field operations. The employees have announced they would work strictly between 9 am–5 pm, switch off official phones after duty hours, refuse overtime, and perform only those duties assigned under existing service rules. Moreover, in Jalandhar and Phagwara, incidents of angry consumers forcibly entering electricity substations and threatening employees over prolonged power cuts led the PSPCL to seek police protection for all 66 substations. In Ludhiana, electricity billing operations in the Central Zone remained severely disrupted, with over 110K consumer bills yet to be delivered. The indefinite strike continues into its third week (earlier coverage).