Contract employees of Andhra Pradesh’s power utilities launched a week-long motorcycle rally from Vijayawada to Tirupati on 21 September 2026, demanding job regularisation and a pay hike.
The rally, organised under the banner of the Andhra Pradesh Vidyut Trade Unions Struggle Committee (APVTUSC), saw workers raise slogans that labour laws were being violated and their long-pending demands ignored. Workers said they discharge duties through floods, storms and extreme heat to keep power supply running, often at personal risk, while facing financial strain from low earnings and rising prices.
Their key demands are regularisation of contract services, an increase in basic pay to ₹48,000, and the announcement of a Pay Revision Commission for contract, regular and outsourcing employees of the power sector.
Union leaders said the government had not responded despite earlier protests and representations, which pushed them to take the rally to Tirupati.
The action echoes similar agitations by contract and outsourced power-sector staff in other states, where regularisation, pay parity and safety have been recurring flashpoints. Contract workers form a large share of the field workforce at state discoms, handling line maintenance and restoration during outages. What to watch: any response from the Andhra Pradesh government or the power utilities as the rally moves toward Tirupati.
