200 Relocated Andhra Staff Forced To Find Accommodation Amid Covid

By Sharon Thambala
Amaravati, Dec 2 : At a time when the world is reeling under the scourge of Coronavirus pandemic, nearly 200 employees of Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) and Transmission Corporation of AP (AP TRANSCO), who relocated from Hyderabad have allegedly been told to find their own accommodation or pay up.

These employees relocated to Vijayawada on the insistence of the state government in 2017 from Hyderabad after almost three years post united AP bifurcation.

They were provided with free accommodation from July 2017 to July 2020, which now stands cancelled unless they pay for it.

“Seven of us stayed in a triple bedroom accommodation provided by the government.They took care of us well but the government now has told us to find our own accommodation,” an employee told IANS.

Incidentally, free accommodation ended for the employees four months ago in July itself, requiring interested employees to pay rent to stay on.

“For four months I paid Rs 5,500 and continued to stay from August to November end, only recently I found my own accommodation,” said the employee.

Rs 5,500 translates to Rs 37,500 when shared by seven employees in a three-bedroom accommodation in a place like Vijayawada.

However, the employees are worried about the timing of this decision when Coronavirus pandemic is still a worry, including the talk about a second wave of infections.

“As it is Covid time, the government should have continued to give us accommodation,” feel the employees as the entire world is disrupted by the pandemic.

There are women employees who are above 50 years of age without the required local support structure to go hunting for a place, especially in a time like this.

“Many people have come from faraway places.Where can they go suddenly during this Covid time,” highlighted the employee.

Meanwhile, APGENCO chairman G.Sai Prasad and managing director B.Sreedhar did not respond to calls and messages over the deprivation of accommodation amid the pandemic.

(Sharon Thambala can be contacted at thambalasharon@gmail

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