AP government extends Rs. 33.15 lakh financial support to the family of a municipal worker who died in accidental electrocution, under expanded insurance and welfare measures.
Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Department has extended financial assistance of Rs. 33.15 lakh to the family of late Vundi Anil Kumar, an APCOS welder who died in an accidental electrocution while performing municipal duties in the Mangalagiri-Tadepalli Municipal Corporation area.
A Rs. 28 lakh insurance-related benefit, comprising Rs. 20 lakh under Personal Accident Insurance and Rs. 8 lakh towards education support for his two children, was handed over to the bereaved family by S. Suresh Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary to Government, MA&UD Department.
The assistance package also includes Rs. 5 lakh ex-gratia from Municipal General Funds and Rs. 15,000 towards funeral expenses, taking the total financial support extended to the family to Rs. 33.15 lakh.
The cheque was handed over in the presence of Sampath Kumar, IAS, Commissioner & Director of Municipal Administration; Aleem Basha, Commissioner, Mangalagiri-Tadepalli Municipal Corporation; Sangeetha Singh, Senior Vice President, Axis Bank, and other bank representatives.
Anil Kumar, 51, had been working as a welder under APCOS since April 2010. He was posted in the Nulakapeta area of Tadepalli and died following an accidental electric shock on June 12, 2026.
He is survived by his wife, daughter and son.
Speaking on the occasion, Principal Secretary S. Suresh Kumar said the case underlined the importance of creating a strong institutional social-security framework for municipal workers, particularly outsourcing and frontline employees.
“Our municipal workers perform essential public services every day, often under difficult conditions. Employee welfare cannot be limited to wages and service benefits alone. We must ensure that workers and their families have meaningful financial protection against death, disability, medical emergencies and other unforeseen events,” he said.
The MA&UD Department has been progressively strengthening welfare measures for outsourcing employees by facilitating salary-package-linked insurance and related benefits through institutional banking arrangements.
According to the department, eight municipal workers who died under different circumstances, including natural death, have so far received insurance support aggregating to around Rs. 80 lakh.
The department also said that approximately 35,000 municipal workers across Urban Local Bodies in Andhra Pradesh have been enrolled under the salary-linked insurance protection scheme.
Suresh Kumar said the settlements demonstrated the practical value of institutional insurance coverage and stressed the need to bring every eligible municipal worker under such protection.
The salary-package arrangement provides outsourcing employees and municipal workers with a range of insurance protections, subject to applicable terms and conditions.
These include:
The Principal Secretary said the department's objective was to develop a broader employee-protection ecosystem covering life, accident, disability, family and health-related financial risks.
“Health protection is as important as life and accident insurance. A major hospitalisation can place a heavy financial burden on an outsourcing employee’s family. Our effort is to ensure that workers are aware of affordable health coverage and are able to build a broader financial safety net for themselves and their dependants,” he said.
The department said the Commissioner & Director of Municipal Administration had earlier invited banks to propose enhanced facilities for municipal employees and workers, taking into account requests from Municipal Workers’ Unions and existing welfare provisions such as insurance and ex-gratia assistance.
After examining the proposals received, the Axis Bank offer was accepted for the wider set of benefits proposed for outsourcing employees and workers in Urban Local Bodies.
Suresh Kumar appealed to all Commissioners of Urban Local Bodies to conduct focused awareness programmes and ensure that municipal employees and outsourcing workers understand the insurance and health benefits available to them.
He also advised employees to keep their salary accounts, nominee details and family information updated, understand the insurance benefits applicable to their category, consider health and accident top-up protection based on their family requirements, and enrol in Government of India social-security schemes wherever eligible.
He further stressed the importance of informing family members about insurance coverage and claim procedures so that eligible beneficiaries do not lose benefits because of lack of information, incomplete documentation or procedural delays.
The Principal Secretary appreciated Sangeetha Singh and Axis Bank representatives, along with officials of the Municipal Administration Department and the concerned Urban Local Body, for facilitating the claim.
He called for prompt, sensitive and hassle-free processing of genuine claims involving municipal employees and their families.
The department said strengthening financial security, insurance protection and health coverage for municipal workers, particularly outsourcing employees engaged in essential urban services, would remain an important component of its employee-welfare initiatives.
