Contract electricity employees seek job security, pay hike

Contract electricity employees take out a motorcycle rally seeking resolution to their demands in Vijayawada on Monday. | Photo Credit: G.N. RAO Contract employees of the Andhra Pradesh power utilities embarked on a motorcycle rally from Vijayawada to Tirupati with demanding that their services be regularised, their basic pay increased to ₹48,000 and the Pay Revision Commission (PRC) be announced for them, as well as regular and outsourcing employees. The rally was organised under the aegis of Andhra Pradesh Vidyut Trade Unions Struggle Committee (APVTUSC). The employees said they were discharging their duties during floods, storms, and in extreme heat, and sometimes even risking their lives, while the increasing prices had cast a huge burden on their meagre earnings. They expressed regret that their earlier protests had evoked no response from the government, which prompted them to take a week-long rally to Tirupati. Leaders of the A.P. Electricity Trade Unions’ Struggle Committee, United Electricity Employees’ Union, United Electricity Contract Workers’ Union, A.P. Power Employees’ Union, A.P. Electricity Workers Union and Junior Linemen’s Union said that the labour laws were violated and their plea for a hike in the basic pay had fallen on deaf ears. They also called for the privatisation policies in the electricity sector to be abandoned. Published - September 21, 2026 07:08 pm IST