Telangana: Frequent Power Cuts? Blame it On COVID-19

Nearly 700 Corona positive cases were reported among the staff at the power utilities across the state. Covid-19 has badly hit the employees working in TS Genco, TS Transco, the northern and southern distribution companies, as per official statistics.

Here's a list of cases...

However, employee unions claim that over 1,200 employees were infected in the Covid second wave. They say a majority of the employees who were infected included engineers and artisans involved in maintenance and power restoration works.

Nearly 28,000 regular employees, 22,00 artisans and another 5,000 contract/ outsourcing employees totalling nearly 55,000 staff are working in power utilities across the state.

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The Staff allege that the management did not take any steps to set up their own hospital to treat staff members as it was done by the APSRTC. The only medical facility available to power staff is a small dispensary running from Vidyut Soudha premises, the headquarters of power utilities.

Officials claimed that required measures were taken to ensure that power distribution and generation are not affected by using the available workforce effectively. This probably could be the reason for frequent power cuts in the state.

The increasing cases have created panic among employees and their family members. Members of the Telangana Electricity Engineers Association met Prabhakar Rao on Friday and submitted a representation seeking certain preventive measures to minimise Covid cases in power utilities.

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"Though there is no legal definition of a frontline worker, the power employees qualify as frontline workers as they are reporting to their job sites and risking their personal health to ensure uninterrupted power supply, the economy in motion and the rest of general public safe. We requested the minister not to ignore power staff in the initial phase of vaccination. But there was no response," Sivaji said.