SCCL workers worried over delay in convening Medical Board meeting

SCCL workers are troubled as Medical Board meetings, which decide dependent jobs for families of medically unfit employees, have not been held for five months. TBGKS accused the Congress government of delaying the process, warning of serious agitations

Kothagudem: Inordinate delay in convening the SCCL Medical Board meeting to review applications submitted by employees for medical invalidation has been troubling the workers.

It may be noted that following requests from employees, former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had decided to provide dependent employment to the family members of workers who were declared medically unfit to continue in service.

---

The Medical Board was constituted in 2018 and the management used to convene the meetings every month. In each meeting, around 150 to 200 applications of employees with health issues and those nearing retirement within two years were reviewed. Of them, 75 to 100 employees would be declared unfit and their children given dependent jobs.

So far, 118 Medical Board meetings have been held and as many as 13,500 candidates have been given employment. However, for the past five months, not a single Medical Board meeting has been held, much to the distress of the workers.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS) state general secretary Kapu Krishna alleged that the Congress government has been intentionally delaying the Medical Board meetings to weaken the dependent job scheme.

When the BRS was in power, over 5,000 regular jobs were filled in addition to dependent jobs. But the current government is giving priority to recruiting workers through private agencies instead of regular appointments, he alleged.

He demanded that the SCCL management convene the Medical Board to review nearly 1,000 pending applications. Workers and their families are worried over the delay in holding the meeting, as the candidates waiting for dependent jobs might cross the age limit.

Krishna also complained that the leaders of recognised union AITUC and representative union INTUC colluded with the management by maintaining silence on the issue. If the management fails to resume the practice of holding the Medical Board meeting at least once a month, the TBGKS would launch serious agitations, he warned.