HYDERABAD: The Ministry of Jal Shakti directed the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to withdraw the order on paying 25 per cent of basic pay to Central Government employees posted in KRMB and also recover the entire amount paid so far with immediate effect.
These directions should be implemented by the end of this month. “Failure to comply with the directions of the Central government would entail appropriate disciplinary action against the officials concerned,” an order issued by the Jal Shakti said.
It may be recalled here that the employees, drawn from the Central government along with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, are being paid 25 per cent of their basic pay in excess since the formation of the Board. However, Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) employees are not being paid 25 per cent in excess.
When GRMB employees took the matter to the Centre, the latter directed the KRMB to withdraw the same and recover the extra salary amounts paid to the Central government employees. The KRMB granted a payment incentive of 25 per cent of basic pay to the state and Central government employees through an order issued on October 20, 2020.
The Centre asked the KRMB to withdraw the order to pay extra amount to their employees in September 2021, because the board does not have the powers to regulate the service conditions of the employees it has borrowed from other organisations.
However, in December 2021, the KRMB declined to implement the Centre’s order. Thus, the Centre once again directed the board to implement its orders by fixing February 2023 as the deadline. The Centre also pointed out that the KRMB’s decision to pay 25 per cent to employees contravenes the basic tenets of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. However, the Centre’s order did not speak about recovering the extra amounts paid to the employees drawn from AP and TS.