Jittery Revanth Reddy slams Telangana government employees for protest plans, claims State is bankrupt
Says Telangana is in a financial mess, admits that his administration has no clue how to handle the situation
Hyderabad: In crystal clear signs of buckling under pressure, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday launched an attack on government employees, who were planning protests against his government’s failure to keep its promises made to them.
Revanth Reddy’s verbal outburst against employees, which comes even before employee unions served any strike notice and before the government held any talks with them, is being seen as the Chief Minister getting jittery after coming to face to face with what could be the one of the first major crises his government has faced.
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Earlier, though farmers, unemployed youth, students, women and police constables, among others, had protested over issues, including a severe water shortage and an agrarian crisis, government employees, too, announcing their plans to launch protests has hit the Congress government hard. This is primarily because any such protest could paralyse the already tottering administration.
The Chief Minister’s first response to the situation, accusing the employees of “waging a war” and questioning their sense of responsibility, also showed that he was desperate after losing control over the administration. There was no tough stance, stating that the government would tackle the situation with a stern hand, nor any diplomatic approach, saying truce talks would be held and their demands considered.
Instead, Revanth Reddy tried to pin the responsibility on employee unions, saying they should support the government in paying pensions, implementing the crop loan waiver or Rythu Bharosa and Kalyana Lakshmi schemes. This was not solely the responsibility of public representatives, he said.
“Against whom are you waging a war? Don’t you have any responsibility?” he asked while speaking at a programme to honour police officials here.
He also skipped responsibility for the failure to keep his government’s promises, claiming that Telangana was in a financial mess and had gone bankrupt, a statement no other Chief Minister would make on his own State. Revanth Reddy instead went on to admit that his administration had no clue how to handle the situation.
“It is challenging to raise loans. Bankers look at representatives of Telangana as thieves. If anyone goes to Delhi, appointments are not given and are seen as if they might steal chappals,” he said.
Stating that the State’s monthly income was Rs 18,500 crore against a requirement of Rs 22,500 crore every month to execute developmental works and implement different welfare schemes, he said employees should suggest how the government should utilise its income against a deficit of Rs 4,000 crore. He also asked them to “sit with the Finance Minister or Chief Secretary and check the accounts themselves”.
“What should we stop? Old-age pensions or free power or Kalyana Lakshmi or any other scheme?” he asked, telling employee unions sarcastically that they could inform the people and take their bonuses and increase their salaries.
If loans were sanctioned, the government could have managed to keep its promises to employees, but that was not the case, he said, repeatedly admitting that none in the market trusted the Congress government.
The State government was not able to spend even Rs 1,000 crore for development works in different departments. Forget about laying new roads to villages, repairing the existing ones was also a challenge, he added.
“A conscious effort is being made to cut down wasteful expenditure. As a Chief Minister, I can fly in a private plane but I am travelling in economy class,” he said, also suggesting that revising prices of essential commodities was another option. He also asked employee unions whether petrol prices should be hiked to Rs 200 or whether prices of rice should be hiked to Rs 60.
“Without increasing the prices and stopping the welfare schemes, your demands cannot be met,” he said, adding that strikes would lead to a collapse of the system. Law and order would be affected. Investments would be affected and job creation would stop. The academic year would also be disturbed, he said, also asking employee unions not to “defame” the government.
Buckling under pressure
- CM accuses govt employees of waging war after they announce protests
- Questions their sense of responsibility
- Takes no tough stance as CM, no diplomatic approach either
- Tries to pin responsibility on employee unions
- Claims Telangana is in a financial mess and is bankrupt
- Admits administration has no clue how to handle situation
- Says it is challenging for his government to raise loans
- Bankers looking at representatives of Telangana as thieves, says CM
- Says no appointments given “in Delhi”, looked upon as ‘chappal thieves’
