COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) Thozhilalar Poriyalar Aykkia Sangam from Coimbatore urged the state government to fill field assistant vacancies across the state so that it can effectively manage the technical aspects of electricity supply.
Speaking during the regional meeting in Coimbatore on Saturday, K Veerasamy, the association’s state organisation secretary, said that approximately 25,000 vacancies for field assistants need to be filled statewide.
He added, “Tangedco has around 60,000 vacancies across all sections. In the field assistants post alone, there are 25,000 vacancies statewide, and in Coimbatore alone, there are around 5,000 vacancies.”
Field assistants and wiremen are crucial in technical tasks such as fixing breakdowns and maintaining the electricity supply network. Due to the current manpower shortage, these technical works are being managed by other staff under the supervision of line inspectors and foremen.
Veerasamy further said that it is important to fill these vacancies as recruits would have qualifications from Industrial Training Institutes (ITI).
The trade union also called on the government to expedite the process of offering voluntary transfers to gangman, take action to ensure that all superintendent engineers’ offices operate from their buildings in Coimbatore, and provide proper technical training to field staff when new technologies are introduced.