Reliance Energy targetted for 'anti-Marathi stand'

Mumbai, July 27: Accusing the Anil Ambani led power utilty Reliance Energy of functioning with a anti-Marathi bias, Shiv Sena today said that it will take out a morcha in protest against the company tomorrow.

The protest will take place outside the Reliance Energy office in Santacruz, suburban Mumbai tomorrow at 1400 hrs. Sena leaders and MLAs Subhash Desai, Gajanan Kirtikar, Bharatiya Kamgar Sena President Suryakant Mahadik, Secretary Kiran Pawaskar will participate, a party release issued here today said.

The release said Reliance Energy was deliberately sidelining its Marathi-speaking staff. It said that the company which was formerly called 'BSES ltd' and was a government-owned power unit supplying electricity to Mumbai suburbs had 80 per cent Maharashtrians employed in different categories.

Since, Reliance took over the company, there has been a systematic move to shift Marathi-speaking officials from important positions to non-significant ones. They are also being ignored during promotions. Due to the anti-Marathi stand of the management, the future of Maharashtrians in the company is in danger.

The statement said that tomorrow's ''morcha'' was aimed to protest against the adamant stand of the management to recruit only non-Maharashtrians in the company and harrasment of the existing Marathi-speaking employees.

UNI