Vijayawada: Energy minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar said the government was giving priority to the welfare of electricity department employees, employment opportunities for youth and development of power sector infrastructure. 

Speaking at a programme held at the Andhra Pradesh Central Power Distribution Company Limited (APCPDCL) office at Gunadala here on Wednesday, the minister said 25 candidates were being given appointment orders under the compassionate appointment scheme. 

He said 389 people had so far secured jobs through compassionate appointments in APTransco, APGenco, APCPDCL, AP Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) and AP Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) since the coalition government assumed office. 

Ravi Kumar said the government would stand by the families of deceased electricity department employees. 

Steps would be taken to ensure that eligible dependants, including children who were minors at the time of an employee’s death, would not have to make repeated visits to offices after attaining the required age. 

Officials had also been instructed to identify another 35 to 45 eligible candidates and consider them for appointments by fixing a cut-off date. 

The minister said examinations had been conducted for recruitment to 629 Assistant Engineer (AE) posts across various wings of the power department. 

Results would be announced shortly, followed by certificate verification and a transparent recruitment process. He said electricity department employees had been granted three dearness allowance (DA) revisions since the coalition government came to power. 

A dedicated training centre had also been constructed in Visakhapatnam at a cost of nearly Rs 30 crore to provide employees with quality training in modern technologies. 

On renewable energy, Ravi Kumar said the government was promoting solar and wind projects in rural areas.