VIJAYAWADA: Social Welfare Minister Dola Sree Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy has asserted that the State government is taking steps to resolve the legitimate and feasible demands of Swarna Gramam and Swarna Ward Secretariat employees.
Addressing a press conference at the Secretariat on Monday, the Minister said around 1.23 lakh employees had been appointed by the previous government in 2019-20, but their service-related issues had not been adequately addressed. A Cabinet sub-committee headed by the Deputy Chief Minister was constituted by the coalition government to examine their grievances, he said.
The Minister said promotions had already been given to 14,331 employees in 18 cadres, and another 800 employees will be promoted. The government had also decided to extend the Automatic Advancement Scheme to eligible employees appointed in the Record Assistant cadre, despite Rs 150 crore additional burden, he said.
Dola assures Secretariat staff of earned leaves and other benefits
Employees completing six years of service in the same post would be eligible for the scheme, he added.
Swamy appealed to the employees not to be misled by those trying to provoke them and said they could approach the government with their grievances.
He criticised former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy over his remarks on the government and questioned why his government had not created promotion channels for Secretariat employees.
The Minister criticised Sunday’s protest by around 2,000 employees in Vijayawada, stating that it had been held without government permission. He also condemned social media posts allegedly mocking the death of a police inspector who was on duty during the protest.
IT and Swarna Gramam and Swarna Ward Department Secretary Katamneni Bhaskar said that a special portal had been introduced to address difficulties relating to leave.
Under the Automatic Casual Leave Approval Facility, a casual leave application would be deemed approved if the competent authority failed to act on it within 24 hours.
He said employees would also receive earned leave, other leave benefits and increments as per their eligibility, on par with other government employees. District-level committees had been constituted to address workload-related issues, while monthly grievance cells would be organised.
The government had also issued instructions to provide eligible death benefits to the families of employees within three months. So far, 121 compassionate appointments had been provided, Bhaskar said.
On the demand for notional increments for the stipend period, he said there were no clear provisions at present and proposals would be sent to the Finance Department for appropriate orders.
On the demand for Junior Assistant cadre status, Bhaskar said the Automatic Advancement Scheme already enabled eligible employees to reach the Junior Assistant pay scale. Creating a separate Junior Assistant cadre for them would have implications for employees in other departments and was not supported by existing rules, he said.
