New Delhi: Concerned over the ‘mass retrenchment of contractual and outsourcing workers’ under four power distribution companies in Odisha, RSS affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) has written to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, threatening to intensify its agitations across the state if the government fails to take corrective steps.
In his letter to CM Majhi, the BMS national general secretary, Surendra Kumar Pandey, stated that the organization “cannot remain silent spectators to the blatant exploitation and eviction of our state’s local workforce” and warned of escalating its indefinite agitations across the state if corrective measures are not taken.
“The absolute apathy of the employers and the failure of today’s official talks have caused immense resentment among the working mass. The ongoing satyagraha agitation, which commenced on 18 May 2026, in front of the Odisha Legislative Assembly is rapidly intensifying. If left unresolved, this will trigger widespread, volatile industrial and social unrest across the state, jeopardizing the peaceful industrial climate necessary for Odisha’s development,” it warned.
The BMS has been protesting against the layoffs of thousands of contractual workers under private power distribution companies in the BJP-led state.
Asking for the chief minister’s urgent intervention, the letter highlights how talks held between the leadership of BMS, Odisha Pradesh, and Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, who also holds the portfolio of power, failed.
The organisation is now pressing for a high-level tripartite meeting under the CM’s chairmanship, to issue strict directives to stop the ‘illegal retrenchments’.
“We draw your immediate attention to the grave and deteriorating industrial atmosphere in Odisha caused by the sudden, large-scale retrenchment of more than 15,000 contract and outsourcing workers across the state, particularly within crucial public utility and industrial sectors,” the letter reads.
BMS further states in the letter that a high-level meeting was held on 24 May between BMS and Odisha’s Deputy CM to resolve this crisis but failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion. BMS cautioned the government about the absolute deadlock and the rising unrest among the working class that necessitated the chief minister’s immediate intervention.
The RSS affiliate has demanded an immediate stoppage of mass retrenchment and reinstatement. “We demand an immediate halt to the ongoing mass retrenchments being executed under the guise of cost-cutting by the four power distribution companies operated under Tata Power in Odisha. All contract, temporary, and outsourced workers who have been arbitrarily removed must be reinstated immediately with full back wages and continuity of service,” it said.
The organisation has demanded that government form a separate “Odisha outsourcing model” for all employees that legally guarantees job security, standard service conditions, and prevent private contractors or management from engaging in arbitrary terminations.
“These mass retrenchments have completely shattered the socio-economic fabric of thousands of families across Odisha. Workers who have dedicated their continuous service are suddenly left without any means of survival. This mass displacement is pushing thousands of local families into deep financial distress, extreme poverty, and mental trauma, entirely defeating the vision of “reverse migration” and sustainable local employment in the state,” BMS argued while pointing out that the impact of removing experienced, skilled, and long-serving technical manpower is already showing devastating effects on the public utility infrastructure in the state.
The BMS said due to the reduction in technical power, regular maintenance, emergency breakdown restorations, and transformer upkeep in both rural and urban areas remain severely compromised, which will lead to prolonged, frequent power outages, causing immense hardship to the general public, agricultural operations, and small industries during peak seasons.
(Edited by Niyati Kothiyal)
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