India News | Will Take Call on Implementing Pay Commission Recommendations: AP Govt

Amaravati, Oct 13 (PTI): The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday said it would take a call on implementing the Pay Revision Commission recommendations by the end of this month.

The other major demands raised by the employees' associations would be considered by the end of November, government advisor (public affairs) S R K Reddy said.

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Talking to reporters after a round of 'informal' talks with the employees' Joint Action Committees at the Chief Minister's camp office, Reddy said the government had already been giving a 27 per cent interim relief for the past two years.

"We appreciate the concerns of the employees but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we could not honour the various promises made. Employees are the key to the implementation of our agenda and we shall not let them down," he said, seeking to placate the JACs that threatened an agitation if their demands were not conceded.

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Leaders of the JACs submitted memoranda, listing a charter of 10 main demands, to Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma and the government advisor on Tuesday.

They insisted that the staff salaries and pensions to the retired be paid on the first of every month.

"You may delay staff salaries by a day or two, but the pensions should necessarily be paid on the first," they told the government.

The leaders expressed serious displeasure over the non-payment of five instalments of enhanced dearness allowance that was due since July 1, 2018. They wanted the first two instalments of DA arrears paid by December 31, 2021.

"There is a growing feeling among employees that the government is looking down upon them and is also neglecting (them).

There is unrest among them that even their legitimate concerns are not being addressed for the past two years," the leaders had told the government heads.

They also said the employees were ready for an agitation in a phased manner if their demands were not conceded forthwith.

To not let the issue snowball into a major administrative crisis, Advisor Reddy and Chief Minister's additional secretary K Dhananjay Reddy held talks with the JACs leaders.

"Several issues could not be sorted out because of COVID-19 and the change of Chief Secretaries. But now the new Chief Secretary and other

Special Chief Secretaries concerned will hold formal talks with the employees' associations and take appropriate action," S R K Reddy said.

"We hope the PRC issue will be brought to a close by this month end and the remaining will be sorted out by the end of next month,” he assured.

JACs chairmen Bandi Srinivasa Rao, Bopparaju Venkateswarlu and other leaders attended.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)