Short circuited

 There are so many unsung heroes of society, working tirelessly and sometimes under hazardous conditions while society takes their contributions for granted . In the same way those electrical linesmen who serve every section of society day in and day out, putting their lives at risk to ensure that society can be benefitted, have unfortunately been compelled to make their voice heard. The All Nagaland Field Electricity Workers Association (ANEFWA)have served an ultimatum on the power department to address their grievances failing which they would resort to a state wide protest. The association demanded that several vacant posts in the Department of Power (DoP) be filled up and that field workers be given risk allowance. These two issues raised by ANEFWA – filling up of vacant posts and paying risk allowance to field workers- is genuine and need to be addressed urgently. All know that without field workers and back up technical staff, the DoP will not be able to run. It is unfortunate that the matter has to take such a turn where the staff have been left with no option but to threaten the government with through a protest. According to ANEFWA the commission set up by the DoP had recommended that the number of casual and work-charged employees be limited within 2052, whereas the finance department had asked the DoP to reduce work-charged and casual labour to 2035. The finance department had also asked the DoP not to appoint any new staff. ANFEWA said that owing to this, the number of work-charged and casual labour within the department has been reducing and that no substitutes were appointed. This situation bodes ill for the department in general and the power consumers in particular. Again, the demand of ANFEWA that risk allowance should be considered for field workers is not only genuine but justified. When central employees are paid special allowance for serving in difficult areas and even armed forces are paid more for serving in conflict areas, it stands to reason that field workers who risk their lives daily ought also to be paid risk allowance. Everybody uses electricity almost 24 hours a day and so any disruption in supply causes great inconvenience. Sometimes power cuts can be due to technical problems even during late nights. The electricity field workers are expected to attend to faults anytime like doctors on emergency duty. There have been several electrocutions of field workers while attending to faults during the past few years. The deceased leave behind wife and children who have nothing to fall upon and no one to look to for help. It is like giving a pittance to a soldier who dies in the line of duty and leaving the entire dependents to fend for themselves. The DoP must consider the plight of the field workers on whom much is owed by the entire society. It may be recalled that the Association of Power Engineers Nagaland (APEN) has been reminding the government about the crisis plaguing the DoP. The association pointed out the need for funds to purchase spare parts to maintain the system and higher capacity transformers for proper distribution to replace outdated equipments. With geometric rise in number of consumers, the DoP also needs more technical staff but the ban on new appointments has caused big problems. It is incumbent upon the DoP to seriously consider these demands and ensure that DoP which is the biggest service provider, is able to effectively deliver.