Telangana government employees get restless over pending demands

Since October last, not a single meeting has been conducted by the Cabinet sub-committee. This reflects their commitment towards our issues, says TGEJAC member

Hyderabad: It is nearly five months since the State government assured to address issues of government employees.

However, the inordinate delay in initiating measures is leaving them restless. It was in October last that the Telangana Employees, Gazetted Officers, Teachers, Workers and Pensioners Joint Action Committee (TGEJAC) decided to stage protests in support of their 51 demands beginning from October 28 to January 30 across the State.

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The TGEJAC has been demanding payment of five DAs that have been pending since July 1, 2022. Of these, one DA was sanctioned and the balance has not been released. The employees associations also demanded the government to declare 51 per cent fitment.

The PRC report is yet to be submitted to the government. They also wanted the Old Pension System should be implemented and the Contributory Pension System should be scrapped. Further, JAC wanted the pending bills to be cleared, the abolition of the E-Kuber system and clearance of the bills through the Treasury Department as done in the past.

Accordingly, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues held a meeting with representatives of 40 associations on October 24. During the meeting, he assured the TGEJAC members that their issues would be addressed at the earliest. He also announced the constitution of a Cabinet sub-committee under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka to address the employees’ issues.

After the Cabinet sub-committee was announced, the TGEJAC members met the Cabinet Ministers and submitted their representations. However, after that, nothing much has happened. “Since October last, not a single meeting has been conducted by the Cabinet sub-committee. This reflects their commitment towards our issues,” a TGEJAC member said.

Employees from districts have been exerting pressure on the TGEJAC members over the government’s apathy in addressing their issues. To make matters worse, many employees had secured GPF loans. Interestingly, while the loan amount was not credited into their bank accounts, the EMIs were being deducted promptly, another TGEJAC member informed.

“Last week, a meeting was held to discuss our future course of action. Since the Chief Minister had sought time till March, we will announce our plans accordingly,” the TGEJAC member said.