MADURAI: Several Tangedco unions and field staff staged a protest against Tangedco (Madurai) officers at the South Zonal office, claiming that the officers were humiliating them, on Thursday morning.
Speaking to TNIE, CITU-Tangedco Employees Union secretary (Madurai) P Arivazhalagan said, "Many field level staff and employees attached to Tangedco are under high work stress. They mentioned that top officials, including the executive engineer, assistant accounts officer and assessment officer harass them. They’ve also claimed that these officials needlessly delay the paper work, which are a part of the procedure for offering maintenance and new power connections. When the field workers seek details, they are harassed and humiliated. As the harassment continued, they lodged a complaint with the chief engineer's office on June 6 2024, and again on July 16 2024. Yet, no action was taken. So, the workers staged a protest and sought the dismissal of these officers."
However, the officers refuted the allegations and denied any malpractices. They maintained that the disgruntled employees are carrying out vicious activities.
V C Ramachandran, one of the officers said, "Some of the works carried out by the field employees are not in line with the Tangedco’s process. This is causing needless hardship to the administrative department. Some workers are carrying out work without approvals from Tangedco. When we question them, they take the help of labour unions and are accusing us, and have even staged a protest. We are clean.”
Speaking to TNIE, Tangedco (South Zone) Chief Engineer E Palaniswamy said, "We have resolved the issue amicably after holding consultations with the office bearers of all employees union. We have sent individual reports about the current situation to the higher authorities as part of the procedure. We may transfer two officials — V C Ramachandran and C Balakrishnan — in the first phase."