Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao reiterated that the Village Revenue Assistant (VRA) system was a remnant of the feudal era and with the services of VRA being regularised, the practice of them working on contract with low wages was ending.
In tune with the Chief Minister’s promise on Sunday, the State government issued a Government Order (GO) on Monday absorbing the VRAs in various department with regular pay scales.
Acknowledging the long-standing efforts of VRAs, the Chief Minister formally handed over a copy of the GO to VRA Joint Action Committee (JAC) leaders at the Dr BR Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat on Monday. The services of 16,758 VRAs were absorbed into various departments under the categories of last grade services/record assistants/junior assistants or equivalent posts depending on their educational qualifications.
Speaking on the occasion, Chandrashekhar Rao said 10,317 individuals with a 10th class qualification will be employed in the irrigation and Mission Bhagiratha departments, 2,761 with an intermediate education qualification will serve as record assistants, and 3,680 individuals with a degree or higher education will be designated as junior assistants. The finance department has already given approval for these positions.
As per the GO, the pay scales will be 19,000-58,850 for last grade services; 22,240-67,300 for record assistants; and 24,280-72,850 for junior assistants. In a compassionate gesture, 3,797 individuals above the age of 61 will be offered employment to their children, considering their dedicated service to society.
The Chief Minister urged VRAs to build a good reputation in their respective departments and strive further to study and get promotions. He said the sooner the JACs gives the list of the VRAs, the faster the appointment orders would be issued to them.
Considering the proactive involvement of Minister KT Rama Rao to expedite the process for regularisation of VRAs, he said the officials issued the orders on Monday marking the Minister’s birthday.