Strike at Himachal power plants ends after 112 days

The workers' strike at Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd's two hydropower plants was called off after 112 days in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district after Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh intervened, an official said here on Thursday.

The strike was withdrawn after an agreement was reached between the company's management and employees in Shimla on Wednesday, a government spokesperson told IANS.

He said the government was keen that the issue should be resolved amicably in the larger interest of the state and workers.

The striking workers had submitted a charter of demands to the company last year on October 15 and went on strike in January.

The company has now agreed to raise the wages of regular and contractual workers and give bonus to contract workers. It was also decided to treat the period of strike as leave without pay.

Baspa Stage II and Karcham Wangtoo -- the two hydropower plants of Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd., a subsidiary of infrastructure conglomerate Jaypee Group -- are located in Kinnaur.

Both the run-of-the-river plants have a combined power generation capacity of 1,391 Mega Watt.