Vijayawada: Contractual employees in Andhra Pradesh were given a 37 per cent wage increase and an insurance cover by the state government on Wednesday.
APTransco chairman K. Vijayanand issued the order enhancing wages to the outsourced workers hired from the manpower supply agencies/contractors.
This would benefit approximately 27,000 outsourced employees in the state’s power sector. This raised their monthly income to over Rs 21,000. The introduction of insurance cover for these employees came as an added relief to them.
Several meetings have been held by the government with the representatives of the outsourced employees. Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy and top higher officials of APTransco, APGenco and CMDs of Discoms were involved in the discussions held on August 9 in the presence of energy minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy and education minister Botsa Satyanarayana with the representatives of AP power employees joint action committee, YSR Vidyut employees union and the Telugunadu Vidyut Karmika Sangam.
A minimum pay of the RPS-2018 for categories like highly skilled, skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled was agreed upon.
High-skilled employees are getting a wage of Rs 22,589 per month, while their allowances were raised to Rs 8,016. The skilled were getting Rs 22,598, to which an increase of Rs 7,355 was effected.
The semi-skilled got a hike of Rs 6,092. They would draw Rs 23,236 against the old pay of Rs 17,144. The unskilled would receive Rs 22,318 per month after a hike of Rs 5,845 to their present wage of Rs 16,473.
The contribution towards EPF shall be paid only on the basic wage of the outsourced workers, with a limit of Rs 15,000 excluding other allowances.
The contractor shall provide the Group Insurance and Mediclaim Insurance to all the outsourced workers whose wage is more than Rs 21,000 per month as they are not covered under ESI. The Insurance premium shall be restricted to an amount equivalent to 3.25 per cent of the corporation’s share for ESI.
Energy minister Ramachandra Reddy said these steps would ensure a more secure and stable professional environment for these workers.
The contract (outsourced) employees welcomed the hike and thanked the government for accepting their long-pending demands. They pleaded that the government initiate steps for implementation of health insurance by the manpower agencies.
