VIJAYAWADA: A day after Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced to hold the Assembly session at least for a few days to pass the State Budget, AP Secretariat employees appealed to the government to desist from such a move in view of the coronavirus outbreak. Instead, the government can come up with an ordinance to meet the expenditure in the initial months of 2020-21, they said.
“Apart from the public representatives, more than 500 will congregate on the Assembly premises, excluding the visitors, mediapersons and employees. During the Assembly Session, the canteen in the Secretariat will also remain crowded. In the existing circumstances, we appeal to the government to consider the option of promulgating an ordinance to meet the expenditure,” K Venkatrami Reddy, president of the AP Secretariat Employees Association, told TNIE, and added that it was better if the government, which announced lockdown till March 31, postpone the Assembly Session also.
Stating that many employees of the AP Secretariat were stuck in Hyderabad as a result of both the Telugu States enforcing lockdown and closing the inter-state borders, Venkatrami Reddy appealed to the government to provide the ‘work from home’ option to all such employees. The employees have decided to give their one-day wage to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund towards the measures against covid-19.