Alleging manpower shortages and unsafe working practices in the power sector, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Tender/Contract Employees Union has warned of a possible statewide agitation after 15 outsourced electricity workers reportedly died in work-related accidents over the past month.
In a letter to the managing director of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited on Saturday, union general secretary Devendra Kumar Pandey accused power management and distribution companies of violating staffing norms laid down in a May 15, 2017 order by removing a large number of outsourced employees from service.
According to the union, 26 outsourced workers were involved in accidents while on duty in the last month. Of them, 15 died and 11 suffered serious injuries.
The union alleged that the reduction in workforce has sharply increased pressure on remaining employees and created unsafe conditions in the field. It claimed shortages of trained linemen and skilled staff had forced utilities to deploy unskilled workers on high-tension and low-tension lines in violation of safety norms.
“Instead of deploying a standard four-member maintenance gang comprising one lineman, one skilled worker and two unskilled workers, in many cases a single employee is being assigned feeder-level work,” Pandey alleged.
He said the practice had significantly increased the risk of fatal accidents, particularly during fault repairs and emergency maintenance work carried out in extreme weather and under heavy workload pressure.
The organisation demanded a high-level probe into recent accidents and action against officials found responsible for negligence. It also sought compensation and accident-related benefits for families of deceased workers along with cashless treatment for injured employees.
The union further demanded reinstatement of experienced outsourced workers allegedly removed in violation of norms and sought a ban on assigning high-tension and low-tension line work to unskilled labourers.
“The growing number of accidents reflects a serious collapse in field-level safety management,” another union member said, warning that failure to address the demands could trigger an agitation at any time.
