Andhra power employees demand overdue pay revision negotiations

The Andhra Pradesh State Power Employees Joint Action Committee has demanded that the State government immediately begin the pay revision process for employees, pensioners and family pensioners. The committee said the revision for the 2026 cycle was due to take effect from April 1, 2026, but that the government had not yet constituted a negotiating committee or started discussions. It made the demand in a statement issued on Wednesday.

JAC chairman Ganapati V.S.R.K. and convenor M.V. Raghava Reddy also sought a unified in-house pay revision negotiating committee.

They proposed that it include representatives of APTRANSCO, APGENCO and the three distribution companies. The committee said the previous pay revision period ran from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2026, under the wage agreement dated August 16, 2023. It called for the new revision to be negotiated with retrospective effect from April 1, 2026.

The JAC said uncertainty over the delay was affecting employees, pensioners and family pensioners. It argued that power workers had continued working despite staff shortages, heavy workloads and the expansion of transmission and distribution networks and the consumer base. According to the committee, employees worked around the clock to maintain power supply during cyclones, floods, heavy rain and extreme temperatures.

It attributed improvements in supply, control of transmission and distribution losses, stronger financial performance by utilities and consumer satisfaction to their efforts. The JAC said increases in the cost of essential commodities, food, fuel, housing, education and healthcare had reduced the real value of incomes and increased pressure on families. It called for a fair process through discussions and said it would cooperate with negotiations aimed at reaching an acceptable agreement.