Telangana staff restless over arrears
No amount has been remarked for this in the budget, raising doubts among employees about getting overdues paid.
Hyderabad: Resentment is brewing among 3.50 lakh employees and 2.20 lakh pensioners against the state government’s failure in paying Rs 2,800 crore PRC arrears for two years.
Adding fuel to this, the government did not pay the hiked dearness allowance since July last year, amounting to nearly Rs 2,000 crore.
Though the government had hiked gratuity payment to its employees from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 14 lakh, they haven’t paid gratuity since two years. The government owes Rs 191 crore gratuity arre-ars to those, who retired between June 2014 and February 2015.
According to employees, the government assures them to pay arrears at the earliest whenever MLC elections approach to lure employees and teachers, but put the issue in the cold storage after the elections.
It promised to pay nine months’ arrears of June 2014 to February 2015 in cash at the earliest. However, even after two years, the arrears rema-in unpaid.
No amount has been earmarked for this in the state budget for the current fiscal, raising doubts among staff abo-ut getting overdues paid.
TS employees leader and TRS MLA V. Srinivas Goud, TNGOs leaders G. Deviprasad and K. Ravinder Reddy are pacifying the staff saying that they were pursuing the case.
Telangana Udyogula Sangham chief A. Pad-ma Chary blamed the finance department for blocking the payment of arrears on one pretext or the other.