659 Assistant Engineer Posts to Be Filled Soon, Says Minister Ravikumar

The government is giving priority to employee welfare, recruitment, advanced training and infrastructure development in the Electricity Department, Energy Minister Gottipati Ravikumar said. The minister recently handed over appointment letters to 28 job aspirants under the compassionate appointment scheme at Gunadala.

Since the government assumed office, 389 employees have been appointed on compassionate grounds across TRANSCO, GENCO, APCPDCL, APEPDCL and APSPDCL, Ravikumar said. The government is also working on extending the benefit to another 35–45 eligible applicants by fixing a cut-off date and considering their cases under special provisions.

The minister said the government was committed to supporting families of employees who died while in service. Measures are being taken to ensure that eligible dependants, including children who are minors at the time of an employee’s death, can seek employment after attaining the required age. The department is also putting mechanisms in place so that eligible family members do not have to make repeated rounds of offices to pursue compassionate appointments.

Recruitment in the power sector is also set to receive a boost, with examinations for 659 Assistant Engineer posts across different departments to be conducted soon. Ravikumar said the recruitment process would include certificate verification after the examination and would be completed transparently, while ensuring that candidates face minimal inconvenience.

He said the government had also taken steps to increase the number of DL posts from one to two, shortly after assuming office.

The minister highlighted efforts to strengthen technical capabilities within the department. A special training centre costing nearly ₹30 crore is being constructed in Visakhapatnam to provide employees with training in modern technologies and emerging areas of the power sector.

The government is simultaneously focusing on expanding renewable energy infrastructure in rural areas, Ravikumar said. Solar, wind and pumped storage projects are being encouraged, while around six lakh SC and ST households are proposed to receive rooftop solar panels under the Surya Ghar scheme.

Under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), works worth ₹10,000 crore are being undertaken to strengthen rural power infrastructure. The initiatives are aimed at modernising the electricity network while improving employee skills and extending welfare measures across the sector.