VIJAYAWADA: Welcoming the wage enhancement with a fitment of 23.29 per cent and other benefits for government employees, leaders of some employees’ associations said the announcements by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy were more than their expectations. Except for the fitment, the CM took several decisions in favour of the employees, they added.
They also welcomed the decision to give monetary benefits to contract and outsourcing employees, along with regular employees, and to complete the process of declaring probation to employees of village/ward secretariats by the end of June this year.
Hailing the decision to give all five pending dearness allowance (DA) hikes with the salaries of January along with new scales after fixing 23 per cent as fitment, the associations’ leaders noted that they had not imagined that the government will enhance the retirement age to 62 years.
“Though our expectation was that the fitment would be more than 27 per cent, we understand the precarious finances of the State and welcome the decision of the Chief Minister,” they said and added that the CM's announcement to reserve 10 per cent of plots in Jagananna Townships for the employees at a 20 per cent rebate was not in their demands.
Speaking to reporters, AP JAC Amaravati chairman Bopparaju Venkateswarulu said they had felt that the Chief Minister might confine to just making a statement on the implementation of the Pay Revision Commission report. “But he made announcements to increase the retirement age by two years and allocate 10 per cent of plots in Jagananna Townships to employees at 20 per cent rebate,” he observed.
Similarly, the CM also directed officials to clear GPF, leave encashment and other pending payments by the end of April, he said. Stating that there was propaganda in social media that the government may reduce the retirement age ever since Jagan took the reigns as the CM, AP Secretariat Employees Association president K Venkatarami Reddy said the CM gave a fitting reply by enhancing the same to 62 years.