Lucknow, June 23 -- A statewide mass movement and 'jail bharo andolan' will be launched in Uttar Pradesh the moment tenders are issued for the privatisation of Purvanchal and Dakshinanchal power distribution companies (Discoms).

The decision was taken unanimously at a "Bijli Mahapanchayat" convened under the banner of the Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, UP, where leaders from electricity employees' unions, railway federations, state employee associations, farmers' groups, and consumer organisations pledged joint resistance against the proposed move.

Railway union leader Shiv Gopal Mishra warned that if privatisation is imposed, railway workers across India would stand in solidarity with electricity employees and join them in...