VIJAYAWADA: The State government on Thursday once again appealed to employees not to go on indefinite strike on PRC from February 7 and come for talks to resolve the issues if any amicably. Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma said, “Strike is an unknown thing, only leads to destruction and disruption. Please don’t go on strike. We will talk. Any issue can be sorted out through negotiations.”
Addressing a media conference after the ‘Chalo Vijayawada’ programme of the PRC Struggle Committee, the Chief Secretary said the government is always ready to resolve issues through negotiations. “Only negotiations will yield mutually agreeable results. Protests and strikes will not yield any results,” he asserted. He said no law or financial proposal is perfect and everything has anomalies.
“There will be anomalies and there are anomalies committees to sort out them,” he said, while pointing out that previous PRCs too had issues, which were resolved by the anomalies committees. On employees’ demands, he said any talks cannot be held with preconditions. “Officials and the Group of Ministers are ready to talk with employees. We urge them to come forward to discuss their problems, so they can be sorted out amicably,” the Chief Secretary reiterated.
On the issue of Interim Relief, Sameer Sharma said like never before, it was paid to employees for 30 months for the 11th PRC. The IR for the Seventh PRC was paid for 10 months, one month for the Eighth PRC, 16 months for the ninth PRC and 15 months for the 10th PRC.
Any advance or loan taken needs to be adjusted. The adjustment can be done in the form of DA or arrears or any other among a range of options. The IR is a transitional arrangement to the point of getting PRC. It is always adjustable. The IR is never part of the salary,” he explained. Never in the past, the IR was given for two-and-a-half years, which shows the benevolence of the government and the Chief Minister. “If our government too had given the DA like the Telangana government, it would have saved Rs 10,000 crore. But it did not. Considering the delay in the PRC and the Covid pandemic, it continued the IR for 30 months,” Sameer Sharma said. Principal Secretary (Finance - Services) Shashi Bhushan Kumar refuted the claims in a section of the media that salaries of employees were decreased. Salaries are calculated automatically and not logically. It is purely a technical issue, he stated.
While comparing the old PRC with the new one, Interim Relief should not be calculated as it is never a part of the salary. He cited two examples of salaries with a basic pay of Rs 43,680 and Rs 21,230 to explain his point. “The employee with a basic pay of Rs 43,680 used to get Rs 67,564 gross and after adding two increments it will be Rs 71,219 as per the old PRC. When it is calculated as per the new PRC, it will be Rs 90,702, which is the difference between December and January salaries,” he explained. The difference in salaries after adjustments will be clearly shown in Due Drawn Statements. The anomalies committee comes into picture only after the PRC is implemented and not before, he clarified.
Naidu condemns govt action
TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has strongly objected to the manner in which the Jagan Mohan Reddy government dealt with ‘Chalo Vijayawada’ agitation of the employees. Naidu accused the ruling YSRC of misusing the police officials to make illegal arrest of the agitating employees as if they were terrorists. The Chief Minister should stop his autocratic policies and initiate efforts to find an immediate solution to the issue, he demanded. The TDP chief stressed the need for responding on issues concerning lakhs of employees with ‘thoughtfulness, not with arrogance’.
Come for talks:YSRC to unions
Asserting that the government is ready for talks with the government on their problems, Minister Botcha Satyanarayana has faulted the employees’ leaders. He said it is unjust on part of the employees to stop crediting the new salaries after processing them. He claimed that the government and the police are maintaining complete restraint during the protest of employees. Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu said it is unfair on part of the employees to resort to show of strength.
Govt attitude exposed, says BJP
Condemning the arrests of employees, BJP state president Somu Veerraju has said it exposed the thoughtless attitude of the government. Employees’ demands are genuine. But as there is no money with the government, their issues remain unresolved, he said and suggested that the Chief Minister focus on income generating measures and fulfil the demands of employees. The arrest of employees is objectionable. “We have extended our support to staff.”
Jagan betraying employees: Cong
Accusing YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of coming to power after betraying employees with his promises, APCC president S Sailajanath said the Chief Minister was cheating the employees again with jugglery of numbers. The employees have every right to stage protests against the raw deal meted out to them, he said and found fault with the Government for arresting the employees. On one hand, the government says that employees are part of it and harassing them on the other
State Govt cheated employees: Pawan
Accusing the YSRC of failing to keep the promises made to employees after coming to power, Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan said instead of increasing the wages, the government cheated the employees by reducing their salaries. Every employee will expect an increase in his/her salary through PRC. But the employees were betrayed and were forced to express their resentment to the government protesting on the road braving hot sun because of reduction in wages, he said.
Interim Relief paid for 30 months for 11th PRC
Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma said like never before, Interim Relief was paid to employees for two-and-a-half years for the 11th PRC. This shows the commitment of the government to the welfare of employees during Covid times. The IR is a transitional arrangement to the point of getting PRC. It is always adjustable. The IR is never part of the salary, the CS said