RTPP Contract Workers Stage Sit-In Demanding Regularization

USPA NEWS - Workers are urging the Chief Minister to fulfill the promise given in the padayatra

MLA Sudhir Reddy spoke to APGENCO HR Director

APGENCO officials requested three days' time

Local BJP leader Vijay Krishna Babu expressed his support for the workers' agitation

Union leaders to announce action plan if there is no clarity in three days

The contract workers of RTPP (Rayalaseema Thermal Power Project) staged a sit-in at the main entrance of the project on Friday, demanding regularization. From 8 am to 11 am, the workers were staged their sit-in that the project employees would not go inside. Local workers said that the main reason for this agitation was the regularization of 39 contract workers whe had been transferred from the Nellore power project to RTPP. Out of 39, 26 were converted as Junior Assistant and 13 as JPA (Junior Plant Attendant) along with regularization. It is unfair to regularize only 39 people working in Nellore power project and not to regularize about twenty three thousand five hundred people working in Genco, Transco and Discom companies across the state, they expressed concern. Along with 39, they appealed to regularize all the workers across the state. We have been waiting for three and a half years with hope that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy will fulfill his promise made in his long padayatra, they added.

Local MLA Dr. Sudhir Reddy reached the place where the workers were staging dharna and spoke to them and asked about their demands. On this occasion, MLA Sudhir Reddy spoke to the Director of Human Resources Department of APGENCO from the place where the workers were protesting. APGENCO officials asked for three days' time to look into the matter, the MLA told the workers.

On this occasion, Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Staff and Workers Union (AITUC Affiliated Workers' Union) Sambasiva Reddy demanded to regularize all 1650 contract workers who have been working in RTPP for about twenty years. He reminded that as assured in his long padayatra, Chief Minister Jagan should take steps for the fulfillment of his promise to regularize all contract workers. The CM said on November 17, 2020 that a committee would be set up to submit a report within 60 days. According to their recommendations, the Chief Minister himself has promised to provide better salaries and facilities than the power contract workers of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Orissa states. He said that even after two years, the workers have not been told what happened. He also said that Chief Engineer Murali Krishna says that you should also bring the appointment documents from the government and we will implement them. If there is no positive clarification from Genco officials within three days, we will announce our action plan and protest accordingly. Local BJP leader Vijay Krishna Babu supported their agitation, Sambasiva Reddy said.