Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday said At present, 100 percent electrification of rural areas has been done, and recently, the government has also decided that free electricity up to 125 units would be provided to the domestic consumers.

Addressing the 9th triennial general convention of HP State Electricity Board Technical Employees Union at Baddi in Solan district, Thakur said with the cooperation of the officers and employees, Himachal has become a fully electrified state and after assuming the office the state government gave priority to the development of the power sector. Better facilities were being provided to 26 lakh electricity consumers in the state and under the Smart City Scheme, 1.24 lakh smart meters have been installed in Shimla and Dharamshala, he added.

He stated that the employees of the state play a vital role in the dissemination and execution of various welfare schemes and programmes.

At present, there were more than 2 lakh employees and an equal number of pensioners in the state. He said that more than 40 thousand outsourced employees were also providing services in the state. Due to the constant efforts of former and present employees, the state was moving forward on the path of development and the legitimate demands of the employees were being met to secure the present and future of the employees’ many decisions have been taken, and the CM said.

The CM further stated that the present state government during its tenure of four and a half years has ensured the development of every section of the society. The decisions taken in the interest of the employees during the tenure were unprecedented and it is being ensured that the employees were given all their dues, salary, pension, and other benefits despite the COVID-19 crisis, he said while adding that the state government would always try to solve the problems of the employees.

Thakur said the employees of the State Electricity Board were performing their duties with honesty and efficiency even in difficult circumstances. As the nature of work of these employees was difficult the state government was making sure that accidents etc were brought down by providing safety kits to such employees.

He urged the technical staff of the department to use the safety kit while working.

The recruitment was being done on various posts in the State Electricity Board and in the last four years, 4052 posts have been filled out of these, 2721 were technical posts and also 3069 employees have been promoted in the technical section of the Electricity Board.

The state government was keen to solve the problems of every section of the employees. For the first time, a committee has been constituted to secure the interest of outsourced employees of the state. On pension matters also a committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary.

In addition, coordination between the government and the employees was an indicator of progress. The state was progressing on the path of development only with the cooperation of the employees of the state, he said while urging the employees to extend their wholehearted support to the government.