Discom appoints its first linewoman

Hyderabad: Babburi Shirisha, the first linewoman in the country, received her appointment order from energy minister G. Jagadish Reddy here on Wednesday. 20-year-old Shirisha, a native of Siddipet, has been posted in Medchal circle of Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL).

Shirisha expressed happiness over her selection. Women could succeed in all fields, if opportunities were provided, she said. “I will work hard and incre-ase the reputation of the organisation,” she said and thanked Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and TSSPDCL chair-man and managing director Raghuma Reddy for providing her the job opportunity.

Speaking on the occasion, Jagadish Reddy said that TSSPDCL set a record by appointing the first linewomen in the country.

It may be recalled that Babburi Sirisha, along with another woman V. Bharathi, a native of Mahabubabad district, approached the High Court when they were restrained from applying for the post usually held by men in 2019.

They could get an order in favour of them and applied for the post and cracked the exam. However, the TSSPDCL withheld their result forcing them to move to the High Court once again. The court, after hearing the case, directed the TSSPDCL to issue appoi-n-tment letters to them after testing their skills.

Earlier, Telangana Transco recruited 200 linewomen for the first time in history of the power sector. So far, only linemen served in the electricity sector, which is believed to be a critical job including electricity pole climbing.