About 1,600 energy meter readers working across the State on outsourced basis to ensure timely issuance of electricity bills to domestic and commercial consumers are waging a lone battle against the managements of two power distribution companies demanding minimum wages for the last 20 days in the absence any support from other electricity employees unions.
Under the aegis of Telangana State Electricity Meter Readers Union, the outsourced staff working for several contractors have gone on strike from May 5 as their repeated requests for job security, provisions of basic facilities such as EPF and ESI, have fallen on the deaf ears of the managements of the two Discoms.
“We have not been rendered justice even after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's assurance given in May 2017”, founder-president of the union G. Venkateshwaralu said. Working for three weeks in rural areas and for two weeks in urban areas every month to record consumption of energy by consumers, the meter readers working for contractors who get the work outsourced by the Discoms are being paid peanuts for their work.
Contractors paid more
According to functionaries of the union, they are paid ₹1.60 per bill in urban areas and ₹1.90 per bill in rural areas for recording the energy consumption by consumers. The contractors, however, are paid ₹2.60 and ₹3.60 per bill, respectively.
“We are against the piece rate basis and want proper wages for our work so that we can help our families make both ends meet. It can be done by making direct payment to meter readers without the role of contractors as has been done in case of over 23,000 artisans along with provision of EPF and ESI facilties,” president of the union D. Sunil Kumar said listing out their brief charter of demands.
Most of the meter reader don't even get wages of ₹10,000 a month as more than 40% of the payment given for the work on piece rate basis by the Discoms is pocketed by contractors with little investment for a computer and its operator. “I record energy consumption of 5,700 connections by visiting the consumers every month but my wages are less than ₹10,000 a month”, a meter reader said explaining the leg work put in by them.
In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, where too meter reader work on outsourced basis, get ₹3.90 per bill in rural areas and ₹3.70 per bill in urban areas even after EPF and ESI deductions and contractors' commission -- as the Discoms there pay ₹7.80 and ₹6.50 per bill, respectively, the union leaders said.