Govt employees demand transparency in arrears, priority for pending bills
Vijayawada: A delegation from AP Joint Action Committee (JAC), Amaravati, led by Chairman Bopparaju Venkateswarlu, met with Finance Minister and Chairman of Cabinet Sub-Committee on Employees’ Issues Payyavula Keshav at State Secretariat late on Saturday night to discuss crucial demands impacting thousands of State employees, teachers, and pensioners. The JAC pressed for immediate action on several fronts, emphasising transparency and swift payment of long-pending dues.
The JAC leaders detailed numerous problems being faced by employees, teachers, pensioners, contract-outsourcing, and village/ward secretariat staff across the State. They requested the government to maintain transparency in the details of thousands of crores in arrears owed to employees by the government. They demanded that the amount due to each employee under each head should be clearly specified in the employee's pay slip, thereby ensuring transparency from the government regarding employee arrears.
JAC leaders stated that failure of the Finance department to clearly disclose how much is due to each employee under major arrears like DA (Dearness Allowance), PRC (Pay Revision Commission), Surrender Leave, Earned Leave, Medical Reimbursement, and Retirement Benefits is creating suspicion among employees. They requested the design of computer software (separate mechanism) to clearly show the arrears due to every employee, teacher, and pensioner on their pay slip.
They also requested immediate clearance of claims on a priority basis for bills submitted by employees and teachers, primarily benefits for deceased employees, retirement benefits for retired employees, emergency medical expenses, medical reimbursement, and urgent needs like children's marriages. They requested priority be given to employees who have died prematurely, retired, or are ill.
As per the promise of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, they requested payment of half of the police staff's surrender leave bills by the end of this month (November). They recalled that the CM also promised to issue orders allowing women employees to utilise childcare leave until their retirement, irrespective of the age of their children.
Responding after listening to all the issues, the Minister stated that he would definitely discuss all the points suggested by AP JAC Amaravati with the officials and take appropriate action. He also assured that even if there are some legal objections on certain matters, they would be overcome and the promises given by the CM would definitely be implemented. Bopparaju Venkateswarlu was accompanied by Phani Perraju, Janakula Srinivasa Rao, T Nageswara Rao, S Malleswara Rao, Pare Lakshmi, P Vijayalakshmi, Ramisetty Venkata Rajesh, Dr Ramesh, Appa Rao, and other leaders.