SCCL VRS staff unhappy with KCR’s announcement

Mancherial: Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s announcement to revive VRS facility brought cheers to about 2,897 Singareni VRS employees while a few were unhappy. The disappointed VRS employees argue that only 107 will get the benefits with the conditions like those who took Rs 2 lakh from the government in the past were not eligible.

The employees Srinivas, Brahmachari and Ravinder, alleged that the Singareni officials came to their houses and forced them to accept the amount. They told The Hans India that they took the money to meet family needs, while pointing out that some employees haven’t paid Rs two lakh each in 2010 and also in 2014 and 2015.

Meanwhile, the employees, who accepted the amount, said they will return the amount to the Singareni management. They alleged that the management had misled KCR, while appealing to him to re-consider his decision, thus bringing hope in their lives. The employees want the government to do ‘full justice to all; If not suicide is the only alternative’, they warned.

The employees said that they hoped that the TRS government will revive the compassionate employment facility, which was scrapped by the TDP government in 1997. But KCR’s announcement poured water on their hopes. They lamented they have been agitating for several years to press their legitimate demands but of no avail.

The employees alleged that the government ‘totally’ failed to redress their grievances and did not honour the promise of reviving their jobs. ‘It not only failed, but also stipulated conditions to which we have objections,’ Srinivas, Brahmachari and Ravinder stated.

These employees have been staging agitations since a week in Bellampalli of Srirampur division and in Mandamarri. Their struggle turned intense in Mandamarri with a few of them threatening to end their life by jumping from a water tank. The employees also staged demonstrations in front of the houses of MLAs in Singareni area.

R Arun Kumar