Telangana employees, teachers and pensioners protest at Kothagudem, Khammam over pending demands

Government employees, teachers and pensioners staged protests at Kothagudem and Khammam collectorates on Thursday as part of a State-wide TGEJAC agitation. Protesters demanded immediate implementation of the second PRC, restoration of OPS, clearance of pending bills and resolution of EHS issues.

Kothagudem: Protests were staged by government employees, teachers and pensioners at Kothagudem and Khammam collectorates as part of a State-wide agitation called by Telangana Employees Joint Action Committee (TGEJAC) on Thursday.

The Telangana Tribal Teachers Federation (TGTTF) State president Islavath Lakshman Naik speaking to the media at a protest staged at Kothagudem district collectorate took serious exception to the State government’s alleged negligent attitude towards the issues faced by employees, teachers and pensioners.

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He demanded the government to announce the 2nd pay revision commission (PRC) immediately, to abolish the contributory pension scheme (CPS) in favour of the old pension scheme (OPS) and clear pending bills of the retired employees.

Lakshman Naik also wanted the government to resolve issues related to Employees’ Health Scheme (EHS) along with providing clarity on the matter at the earliest. The government should not remain indifferent until the employees and teachers were forced to launch large-scale agitations to get their grievances resolved, he advised.

The TGTTF leader emphasised that the employees had viewed the Telangana government as an employee-friendly government; however, if the government continues to neglect employees’ issues, it would inevitably face severe opposition from them in the future. A united struggle must continue to uphold the rights of employees, teachers and pensioners, he noted.

A similar protest was staged at dharna chowk under the aegis Khammam TGE JAC. The protesting employees have warned that they would intensify their agitation if the long-standing issues faced by them were not resolved immediately.