Chief Minister Kalyan Singh told reporters here today the Government had made adequate arrangements to ensure uninterrupted generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in view of the proposed strike.

He said the army and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) had been asked to stand by for maintaining the State's main power stations, besides ensuring uninterrupted power supply to industrial units and households.

Dismissing the demands of UPSEB employees as "unjustified", he said the State Government would not hesitate to invoke the National Security Act (NSA) to deter employees from going on strike.

Terming the UPSEB as a "white elephant", Singh said the State Government's decision last week torestructure the UPSEB by splitting it into three divisions -- generation, transmission and distribution -- was fully justices when the State was mired in a severe financial crisis.

Singh said the State Government's `historic decision' was in keeping with the need of the hour, when several other states had also invited private units to bid for production and distribution of power.

Asking UPSEB employees not to resort to strike, Singh said the reforms in the State's power sector only envisaged that the employees would be held accountable for their responsibilities, while their pay structure and other service conditions would not be affected at all.

Singh contradicted UPSEB figures regarding distribution of power in rural areas for past several years, saying an independent investigation had revealed that "each year, electricity worth Rs 1,500 crore was being pilfered in connivance with UPSEB employees".