Hyderabad: The situation of retired employees in Telangana has become "pathetic," according to BRS leader G Devi Prasad, who on Sunday demanded that the government urgently intervene to save the pensioners.

Devi Prasad, a former president of the Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers' (TNGO) Association, highlighted that retired employees have not received their pension dues since March 2024. He accused the authorities of harassing pensioners by withholding the money they saved during their service, stating that many are dying due to mental stress caused by the delay.

"The government, which promised to release Rs 700 crore every month, is harassing employees," said Devi Prasad. He calculated that it would take two years to pay the Rs 15,000 crore of arrears every month as promised, adding that the situation of employees retiring monthly is dire. "It is unfortunate that the government, which has incurred debts of Rs 2.40 lakh crore, has not paid the arrears of retired employees," he asserted.

The BRS leader said that promises made to employees, such as the Pay Revision Commission (PRC) and Dearness Allowance (DA), have joined the list of unfulfilled election pledges. He claimed the government has cheated employees by failing to deliver on promises for PRC, health cards, five DAs, and the abolition of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). He called the government's practice of not even giving advance payments for festivals "a bad practice" and demanded the release of DAs on the occasion of the Diwali festival. Devi Prasad stressed that the responsibility for saving the lives of the retired employees now lies with the employee unions.