About 23,000 ‘artisans’ of power utilities in Telangana whose services were regularised two years ago will get regular pay scales as per orders issued by the transmission and generation corporations on Tuesday evening.
The artisans, who were outsourced personnel working in the two corporations and two power distribution companies of the State till their absorption on July 29, 2017, were getting monthly consolidated remuneration as recommended by Factories Act.
With the revised pay scales now, they are entitled to dearness allowance, house rent allowance, city compensatory allowance, medical allowance, corporate allowance, conveyance allowance and other benefits as applicable to the scale of pay and place of working, orders issued by the chairman and managing director of transmission and generation corporations D. Prabhakar Rao said.
The pay scales were finalised at a joint meeting of the managements of power utilities with Telangana Electricity Trade Union Front and Telangana Rashtra Vidyut Karmika Sangham on October 19.
The implementation of pay scales has resulted in opening of service registers in respect of all the 23,000 artisans and recording of pay fixation and other service particulars in them. The difference between the wages arrived after pay fixation now and the consolidated remuneration may be kept as personal pay.
Therefore, all the four grades of artisans have been extended personal pay ranging from ₹ 4,294 to ₹ 5,321.
Monthly pay slips to all the artisans will be issued from October salary payable in November. Paid holidays will be extended to them from July 29, 2017, and compassionate appointments and funeral charges to relatives of deceased artisans from December 4, 2016. Wage revision to artisans will be considered during next revision.
The legal hurdles for regularising the services of outsourced personnel working as artisans were cleared a year ago after a petition challenging the proposed regularisation was struck down by the High Court.
The government had proposed to regularise the services of artisans from December 2016 as they were working for a long time on outsourcing basis. But, the move hit a road block after it was challenged in the High Court. The subsequent clearance given by court resulted in consolidated pay ranging from ₹ 19,548 to ₹ 29,743 for artisans from grades four to one respectively. The latest pay scales were also fixed in the same range but include personal pay to adjust deviation from consolidated remuneration.
