Hyderabad: Junior panchayat secretaries (JPSs) have determined to step up pressure on the government to address their long-pending demand for the regularisation of their services and consider their four-year probation period to fix their seniority by holding a state-level dharna in Hyderabad.
The Telangana Junior Panchayat Secretaries Federation (TJPSF) is planning its next course of action since the state government has not yet responded to their demands, despite their being on strike since April 29.
The federation believes that the agitation programmes launched at the mandal and district levels were not creating the desired impact on the government. Further, it was of the view that if all 9,500 JPSs banded together and launched a protest in Hyderabad, it will have a two-fold impact.
J. Srikanth Goud, federation president, stated that it had been two weeks since they went on strike but the government was yet to respond. The government had issued an ultimatum to the striking JPSs to join duties by 5 pm on May 9 or their services would be terminated.
The federation claimed that only 900 JPSs had rejoined duty by deadline. Their number came down to 600 by May 10 and to 200 by Thursday. The federation claimed that those who joined duties had return to the strike.
Meanwhile, minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao on Thursday said that the government had not invited JPSs for talks so far. He said the CM was sympathetic towards the demands of the JPSs, and would consider doing calling them for talks they called off their strike.
