Harish Rao slams Congress government for denying retirement benefits to employees

Former minister T Harish Rao accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of withholding Rs 10,000 crore in retirement benefits of government employees. Supporting a protest in Siddipet, he said delays had pushed retirees into hardship and demanded budget allocation to clear dues.

Siddipet: Former Minister T Harish Rao said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was pushing retired government employees into a crisis even after they had served the public for more than 35 years by denying them their retirement benefits.

Extending support to retired employees who were staging relay hunger strikes at Ambedkar Junction in Siddipet on Sunday, Rao alleged that Revanth Reddy had withheld Rs 10,000 crore that the employees had saved from their salaries.

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“At the same time, he had invited tenders for the Rs 96,000 crore Musi rejuvenation project besides planning to demolish 10,000 houses along the riverfront,” he said.

Rao alleged that the Chief Minister was releasing funds only to those who offered him commissions. Holding Revanth Reddy responsible for the struggles of retired employees, the former minister said more than 60 retired employees had died as the government failed to release retirement benefits on time. During its 10-year tenure, the BRS government had paid retirement benefits to 92,000 employees without any delay, he said, demanding that the government allocate Rs 10,000 crore in the 2026-27 budget to resolve the issues faced by retired employees. He assured that the concerns of retired employees and serving staff would be raised during the budget session of the State Assembly.

Stating that the Education Commission report had humiliated teachers with its observations, he said the Congress had come to power promising implementation of dearness allowance (DA) arrears. Rao called upon retired employees and serving staff to unite and teach a lesson to Revanth Reddy.

Rao also alleged that the Congress government had borrowed Rs 1.50 lakh crore from various sources during its less than two-and-a-half years in power but had failed to take up any major projects.