Hyderabad: Around 600 electricity bill collectors working in the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL) without any job security or minimum wages protested in the hot sun at Dharna Chowk near Indira Park on Saturday, April 6, demanding the state government implement minimum wages for them as per GO 11.
Presently, they are working for a paltry Rs 6K per month, many of them having experience of 20 to 25 years in the department.
“We have been approaching politicians and officials for over a decade and have also met the then chief minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao. But we couldn’t get justice. Over 20,000 artisans working in the department have been getting minimum wages. But we are just 600 here. We can also be recognized as artisans in a similar manner. After the implementation of the Gruha Jyothi scheme, which gives free electricity up to 200 units, our lives will be on the road. We hope chief minister A Revanth Reddy will consider our genuine, long-standing demand for the implementation of minimum wage laws,” said one of the protesters.
When asked how much they were expecting, most of them said they could get on with their lives with Rs 20,000–25,000 a month, which could be enough to sustain their lives.
