VIJAYAWADA: Around 210 employees of State power utilities have succumbed to Covid-19 in May and over 2,000 others contracted the virus during the second wave, according to AP State Power Employees’ Joint Action Committee (APSPE-JAC).The JAC has once again requested the State government to identify them as frontline workers immediately.
They have also appealed to the State authorities to immediately take up mass vaccination drive for the power sector employees, who are high-risk category workers, as told by Union Ministry of Power.The JAC has submitted a representation to energy secretary Srikant Nagulapalli on Tuesday and claimed that despite repeated requests to identify electricity employees as frontline warriors, no progressive steps were taken.
“Nearly 210 employees have succumbed in the month of May, 2021 alone. The total Covid affected employees in electricity sector is around 2,000 in the second wave. Vaccination process is sluggish with only 59 per cent employees getting first dose and just eight per cent getting the second,” the JAC noted.The JAC estimated that over 500 employees have succumbed to the novel coronavirus so far since the first wave.
While several heads of departments have taken steps to provide vaccination to their employees in March and April itself, managements of power utilities have “conveniently shifted the responsibilities just by nominating nodal officers who are helpless as their requests are not considered at all”, the members of the JAC added.
“Further, we were surprised that energy department issued a press statement on May 14 that employees were declared frontline workers, but no order has been released nor no benefits have been extended so far,” the JAC said.