A Congress delegation led by Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Amit Patkar staged a protest at Vidyut Bhavan in Panaji on Tuesday, demanding the regularisation of Electricity Department meter readers and raising concerns over the department’s functioning.
Police prevented the delegation from proceeding further into the premises as security was tightened to maintain law and order during the protest.
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Addressing the media, Patkar highlighted the plight of meter readers who, according to the Congress, have been working on a contractual basis for nearly 12 years without being regularised. The party urged the government to address their long-pending demands and provide them with job security and employment benefits.
Officials of the Electricity Department informed the delegation that the process of regularising contractual employees who have completed more than 10 years of service is already underway. They said the move would also provide eligible employees with benefits such as Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), health insurance and leave entitlements.
Patkar, however, said the Congress would closely monitor the government’s response and gave it until September 20 to fulfil the workers’ demands. He warned that if no concrete action is taken by the deadline, the party would launch another protest at Vidyut Bhavan in support of the meter readers.
