The Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) may examine the demands made by its employees working in its eight hydro power stations regarding risk to their lives and property owing to Maoist threat.
The employees had been demanding adequate security cover including insurance coverage.
“This is a matter between the employees and the board of OHPC. The board will examine the demands of the employee unions in due course”,
Pradeep Kumar Jena, chairman, OHPC and secretary, energy, Orissa government said.
It may be noted, the chairman of the OHPC Employees Unions Co-ordination Committee, Ramesh Sathpathy had yesterday demanded adequate security for about 3300 employees of the corporation.
“The government should set up a committee to study our grievances and pay 40 percent as remote area allowance. The employees must be provided with life insurance cover in view of the Maoist menace”, he demanded. When contacted on the issue, J Padhi, director (operations), OHPC said, the corporation is in talks with the government at the highest level.
The energy minister, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak has already taken a high level meeting on providing security to all hydro power stations in the state. The decision of the government is awaited, he added.
Sources said, this is a regular demand of the employees and any decision by the OHPC board will be linked to performance and profit of the corporation. The employees are drawing salary as per the recommendation of the sixth pay commission.
Since, there are other government organisations and offices other than OHPC in the naxal affected area, the payment of 40 percent remote areaallowance as demanded by the employees’ unions can not be considered in isolation.
On the issue of appointment of a full time managing director, the official said, the process for appointment of a full time managing director has been set in motion by the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB). The corporation will have a full time managing director soon after a gap of13 years.
