Power board employees stage protest in Shimla, demand restoration of OPS

Employees demand OPS restoration for post-2003 recruits, regularisation of outsourced staff and implementation of the CM’s earlier assurance.

Shimla , September 2

Employees, engineers and pensioners of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board staged a protest at Chaura Maidan in Shimla on Wednesday, demanding restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and resolution of other long-pending issues.

The protesters raised slogans against the state government and the board management. A rally was taken out from Kumar House to Ambedkar Chowk at around 11 am, following which the employees gathered at Chaura Maidan and staged a demonstration.

Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Joint Action Committee co-convener Hiralal Verma demanded that OPS be restored for employees appointed in the board after May 15, 2003.

He also demanded that outsourced employees who have been serving the board for a long period be absorbed into regular service and provided job security.

Verma said the Congress government had restored OPS in its first Cabinet meeting, but electricity board employees were still deprived of the benefit.

He claimed that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had also announced the restoration of OPS at a conference on October 15, 2025, but the board management had not implemented the decision.

Verma urged the state government to take a concrete decision at the earliest and ensure that the future of electricity board employees is secured.