Chennai: From next year, power outage complaints will see faster resolution. The state govt will recruit 8,000 field assistants in the next two years to address the manpower crisis faced by Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation (TNPDCL) manpower in technical and field support segments.IN 2023, the then DMK govt issued a GO to recruit 8,000 field assistants for TNPDCL but failed to do so. The TVK govt has now issued a fresh order to recruit the same number of personnel over two years, though there are about 36,000 vacancies in field assistant and wireman posts.The latest GO is the major recruitment drive for TNPDCL following the appointment of 9,600 gangmen in 2021, for which the notification was issued in 2019.The discom will fill 5,000 posts in 2027 and 3,000 in 2028, while the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) will conduct the exam. Those who have completed ITI will be eligible to apply for these posts with a starting salary of ₹35,548. “TNEB has received initial approval for hiring 8,000 field assistant posts in TNPDCL,” said electricity and law minister C T R Nirmal Kumar. The state govt has estimated the annual expenditure for the new recruits at ₹341.26 cr per year.“Recruiting field personnel will solve a major crisis in TN as we could not find suitable manpower even through outsourcing,” said a senior TNPDCL official.However, S Kannan, state president of the Central Organisation of Tamil Nadu Electricity Employees (COTEE), said the role of field assistants should be specific and that they should not be deployed for other duties. “The educational qualification of assessors is a college degree, so the field assistants should not be used in place of assessors,” he said.
