The government has given a written assurance that the employees' dues to the tune of ₹3,000 will be cleared by 31 March.
Published Mar 09, 2023 | 6:53 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 09, 2023 | 6:53 PM
Representatives of the Andhra Pradesh government employees' unions at a meeting with ministers on 7 March, 2023. (Supplied)
The Andhra Pradesh Joint Action Committee, Amaravati, decided to go on protest as planned from Thursday, 9 March, despite the government giving a written assurance that the employees’ dues will be cleared by month-end.
The other two service associations postponed the protest schedule and decided to wait till 31 March, the deadline the government has set for clearing pending bills to the tune of ₹3,000 crore.
Representatives of APNGO’s Association, Andhra Pradesh Secretariat Employees’ Association, and Andhra Pradesh Joint Action Committee, Amaravati, attended the talks held on Tuesday, 7 March, with the empowered Group of Ministers (GoM).
While the GoM gave certain assurances, the employees’ associations wanted them in writing, by recording in the minutes of the meeting.
The government prepared the minutes and circulated them among the associations late on Wednesday night.
The Andhra Pradesh Joint Action Committee, Amaravati, held an emergency meeting of its representatives from all 26 districts on Thursday to discuss the future course of action.
AP JAC leader Bopparaju Venkateswarlu. (Supplied)
“Though there has been a written assurance from the government, the majority of our leaders are not ready to believe that the pending bills will be cleared by March end as it is the closing of the financial year and they are not sure if the government can pay the arrears,” AP JAC Amaravati, chairman Bopparaju Venkateswarlu, said at a news conference.
“So to maintain pressure on the government until the payments are made, we have decided to go ahead with the strike from today. However, the intensity of the stir will be subdued. We will meet again on 5 April to decide the next course of action,” he added.
Other associations, however, decided to wait until March 31. “We have decided to wait until March 31 as assured by the government and then take a call,” Arava Paul of the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat employees Association told South First.
After the meeting with the associations, Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath, who is also part of the GoM, announced that the employees’ benefits to the tune of ₹3,000 crore would be disbursed in cash by 31 March.
All pending bills related to GPF, medical reimbursement, clearance of pending funds of EHS, APGLI, and TA bills, gratuity to pensioners, etc., will be cleared, he said.
Pending DA arrears of 1 July 2018 and 1 January 2019, and encashment of earned leave will be paid in two quarterly instalments by the end of September 2023.
The finance minister put the state’s annual revenue at about ₹1,25,000 crore, out of which about ₹90,000 crore is being spent for disbursing pensions and salaries of employees. Every year, there is a ₹8,000 to ₹9,000 increase in expenditure.
Interestingly, the government did not invite the Andhra Pradesh Government Employees’ Association to the talks.
The reason is that the government was irked with it after its president KR Suryanarayana led a delegation to the Raj Bhawan in January, seeking the Governor’s intervention in addressing their long-pending demands.
Government employees served the strike notice in February demanding the clearance of several pending bills and also timely payment of monthly salaries.
In a last-ditch effort, the government-appointed empowered Group of Ministers (GoM).
The GoM, comprising ministers Buggana Rajendranath, Botsa Satyanarayana, and Audimulapu Suresh, Government Advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, and Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy, met the employees’ leaders and discussed their issues on Tuesday.
On behalf of the unions, State Secretariat Employees Association President K Venkatrami Reddy, APNGO Association President Bandi Srinivasa Rao, and the APJAC’s Bopparaju Venkateswarlu attended the talks.
The employee unions have been demanding that the government allow them to withdraw Government Provident Fund (GPF), gratuity, leave encashment, medical bills, Dearness Allowance, and AP government Life Insurance (AGLI) scheme amounts.
As per the original plan of the unions, all employees will wear black badges and attend duties on 9 and 10 March as part of the protest.
On 13 and 14 March, they will hold protest meetings at the collector and RDO offices across the state during the lunch break.
On 15, 17, and 20 March, they are expected to organise massive dharnas at the offices of district collectors.
On 21 March, the employees will reportedly hold a cell-down protest and not attend or receive any calls.
On 24 March, they will hold dharnas at all the commissioners’ offices.
On 3 April, they are expected to go to the collectorate and hand over a memorandum listing their problems to collectors.
On 5 April, APJAC Amaravati will hold its state working group meeting to finalise its future course of action.
