Hyderabad, March 23, 2026: Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor of Telangana, on Monday handed over cheques totalling ₹1 crore to the families of power employees killed between 2020 and 2025.
And this marks the first time a sitting governor has personally distributed compensation for accidental insurance cover, officials said.
The payouts covered 16 families across TSTRANSCO and TSNPDCL. Each family received between ₹4 lakh and ₹12 lakh, depending on the policy held.
Officer on Special Duty Naveen Kumar told reporters, “We reviewed 25 claims and finalised 16 families eligible under the ₹50-lakh accidental cover scheme introduced in 2020.”
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The distribution ceremony at Raj Bhavan lasted 32 minutes. Tamilisai Soundararajan handed cheques to 12 women and 4 men in front of three-dozen press photographers.
Every cheque bore her signature across the top left corner and the Telangana state seal along the right edge.
She told relatives, “You have paid a heavy price while keeping the power running; the least we can do is acknowledge it.”
She added the payouts did not come out of the state budget but from the ₹1-crore corpus approved by the Centre in December 2024.
TSTRANSCO Confirms 1,420 Accidents Since 2019
According to the latest TSTRANSCO injury statistics released last week, 28 employees died on duty—19 in field accidents and 9 in vehicle mishaps on NH44 and NH7 routes.
Road accidents claimed four lives in Khammam on May 17 2023, another three in Hyderabad on October 10 2022, and two roadside electrocutions in Nalgonda on February 22 2024.
TSTRANSCO CMD Rakesh Singh told reporters, “These are people who climb 30-metre poles during thunderstorms.”
TSNPDCL’s Fast-Track Claims Got Extra ₹0.4 Cr
TSNPDCL separately received ₹40 lakh for 11 families under a fast-track review launched in September 2025 after audits found delays in nagarpalika cases.
District Engineer Rajesh Babu Patel completed that review in six weeks—shaving six months off the standard 16-week cycle.
He said, “TSNPDCL cut procedural knot by 75 %; we now accept district court death certificates rather than wait for magistrate confirmation.”
The ₹40 lakh came from the same ₹1-crore corpus, leaving ₹5.32 lakh unspent for contingencies.
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General insurance firms watch Telangana’s model closely. ICICI Lombard’s GM Ravi Dixit told Insurance India, “Government schemes usually set the price ceiling for private policies.”
He added the ₹1-crore corpus translates to an effective ₹6,17,284 per life swathed in administrative cost—nearly 40 % against the usual 10 % private insurers quote.
Still, SBI General’s Rajesh Agarwal said, “Telangana’s direct payout is under five working days; most insurers still require 15–30 days for field verification.”
And Tamilisai Soundararajan wrapped the event saying, “This is not charity; it’s restoring dignity to the last mile.”
