MARGAO: Electricity Employees Union (Goa) on Wednesday threatened to agitate during the ongoing Assembly Sessions if the government does not give the line staff safety gear and rain wear immediately and also address their other grievances already raised before the authorities.
Briefing media persons Union General Secretary Raju Mangueshkar said that though the government is duty bound to give safety gear and rain wear by 31st May every year, till date the rain staff has not got any equipment due to which there are accidents including fatal ones.
“We demand that the department investigate and make public how and why Chandrakant Gaonkar the assistant linesman died in an accident at Sanvordem about a week back,” he said alleging that staff is abused and misused.
Raju disclosed that while around 400 line staff continue to be working on contract basis for over 8 years, the department has recently recruited around 1000 people due to political influence and many of them though recruited as technical staff are actually sitting in the offices and doing clerical work.
“We appeal to the new Power Minister Nilesh Cabral to investigate how many technical staff members are actually working in the offices doing clerical work and take action against these people whose services have been regularized due to political influence,” he said.
Raju demanded that the services of the contract workers who have been working for over 8 years should have been regularized first and alleged that helpers are asked to go in the field and do the work supposed to be done by linesman.
“Ladu B Gauns who was an assistant helper was sent to work on high tension line without an engineer to guide him and that is how he met with an accident and is bed ridden till date,” he said alleging that most often the engineers do not report accidents.
He said that though the line staff are covered by insurance and due to get Rs. 7 lakhs in case of death and Rs. 25,000 immediately in case of injury, they do not get these benefits because the engineers do not report the accident and then the clerical staff delay in processing the case.
“It is ironical that no dues of the clerical or engineers are kept pending whereas the technical staff have to endure an endless wait for their dues and the Modified Assurance Career Progressive Scheme is made applicable for the clerical and engineering staff while it has to be fought for by the technical staff.
He also demanded to check the conditions of the vehicles provided to the staff as many of them are not working. “The Rs. 150 cycle allowance we used to get earlier was removed on the promise that we shall be given vehicles instead but the vehicles provided do not work and we have to face the brunt of the public,” he said.
