HYDERABAD: Though they are employees of the same organisation now, they are being treated as second class citizens. Their salary is less when compared with other regular employees and the service rules too, are different. This is the tale of around 30,000 artisans working in the power utility. Depressed over not being on the regular pay scale, two artisans committed suicide this week. The artisans are demanding that the State government should keep its assurance.
Regularisation of the services of contract workers who used to work under various contractors in the power sector was the assurance given by TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao prior to the formation of the a separate Telangana State. Though the contract workers were taken into the regular services, they were tagged as artisans in 2017.
According to Telangana Vidyuth Contract Workers’ Union’s founder president Gambo Nagaraj, there were 23,667 artisans and around 6,500 other part-time workers. But these employees, even after regularisation, were now getting only Rs 20,000 per month. The service rules were different from the APSEB (Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board) service rules. “When we are employees of the same organisation, how come there are two different pay scales and services rules,” wondered Nagaraj.
The artisans were being engaged in 39 different jobs including sub-station operators, diploma operators, watchmen, junior plant attendants, store hamalis and others. They would even take up repairs to transformers, disconnect service meters, climb the huge towers and also collect bills as revenue cashiers.
“We should be given designations such as junior line assistants, sub-engineers and junior plant attendants instead of artisans,” the artisans demanded. They also ask that those without ITI qualification be treated as sub-engineers after getting three years of experience.
“We have faith in Transco and Genco CMD D Prabhakar Rao. But, some engineers and leaders of other unions are misguiding him,” Nagaraj said, and said they wanted the intervention of the Chief Minister to resolve their problems.
“The total salary bill of the employees of the power utility is around Rs 7,000 crore per year. The management is paying Rs 650 crore to artisans per year. If our demands are met and we get equal pay with other employees, the burden will be very less on the power utility,” said Nagaraj, who was recently placed under suspension for “spreading rumours.”