Government employees of Telangan can expect at least one pending instalment of their dearness allowance (DA) by Diwali. The administration met with the Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising employees and retirees’ unions.
The JAC members put fort 51 demands to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, with focus on six primary demands. Of these, the clearance of five pending DAs since July 2022 was one critical concern they sought to address in addition to about Rs 4,000 crore in arrears. These arrears have accumulated due to medical bills not being reimbursed, gratuities not being addressed and so on. There is reportedly 17 per cent pending DA. Each increment of one per cent is likely to drain the treasury of Rs 250 crore per month.
Reddy has reportedly assured the JAC that while one or two instalments of pending DA will be cleared soon, a Cabinet subcommittee headed by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka will take necessary steps to resolve employees’ other issues.
The employees have been demanding the effective implementation of the Employee Health Scheme (EHS). They also want the old pension system to be restored and the contributory pension scheme to be withdrawn.
It is pertinent to mention here that Telangana reportedly has a debt of almost Rs 7 lakh crore to clear, which is the reason the state has not been able to address employee grievances on priority.
