Electricity contract workers seek regularisation, better pay

The CITU-affiliated United City Contract Workers Union has urged the Andhra Pradesh government and power utilities to address the long-pending demands of electricity contract workers, stating that thousands of employees who have served the sector for nearly three decades continue to face low wages, job insecurity and inadequate social security benefits.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, Puli Anil Kumar, Regional Secretary of the NTR district unit of the union, alleged that contract workers have been ensuring uninterrupted power supply round the clock despite receiving inadequate wages and being denied basic employment benefits. He said successive governments and power utility managements had failed to resolve their issues, leaving many workers and their families under severe financial stress owing to rising living costs, educational expenses and healthcare needs.