Addressing the mediamen here today, general secretary of the Union Chander Singh Mandyal said that 40,000 employees of the board would not hesitate to go on indefinite strike if the NJPC management did not mend its discriminatory behaviour with the `seconded' employees. He, however, said the union would chalk out its further course of action shortly.

Mandyal said all memorandums, representations and requests of the union to the NJPC had gone unheard.Mandyal regretted that seconded staff from the state board was being treated as second rate employees and no incentives were being granted to them.

The employees of the board were discriminated in matter of medical reimbursement, grant of LTC, canteen reimbursement, project allowance and leased accommodation. Two state government representatives including the chairman of the state power board and the financial commissioner-cum-secretary had also failed to safeguard the interests of the seconded staff.He said while the state government had regularised all the daily wagers having 10 years of service, the NJPC failed to regularise the service of 90 such workers, who had been working at the site before the NJPC came into existence.

Mandyal said if the state government did not take up the various issues with the NJPC and the Government of India, the cost of project would not only go up but the project would be further delayed. He said that the cost of the project in 1986 was Rs. 1699 crore which increased to Rs. 4300 crore in 1997 which is now Rs. 7218 crore.

The union sought the intervention of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to ensure that seconded staff was not discriminated.