Principal Secretary (Revenue) Naveen Mittal promised a follow-up meeting with the TGEJAC leaders.
Published May 08, 2025 | 3:01 PM ⚊ Updated May 08, 2025 | 3:01 PM
TGEJAC met with the three-member official committee headed by Principal Secretary (Revenue) Naveen Mittal. (X)
Synopsis: Telangana government employees, led by TGEJAC, are pressing 57 demands, including DA arrears, PRC implementation, OPS restoration, and TGSRTC merger. A committee met union leaders, promising to review and report to the cabinet sub committee. Despite financial strain, CM Revanth Reddy vowed dialogue, though his blunt remarks sparked controversy.
Telangana government employees appear to be a step closer to resolving at least some of the 57 demands they have placed before the government.
The Telangana Government Employees’ Joint Action Committee (TGEJAC) has been pushing for the implementation of promises made by the Congress party during the Assembly election campaign.
With no significant movement from the government, the TGEJAC announced a phase-wise agitation programme to press their demands.
TGEJAC Chairman Maram Jagadeeswar and General Secretary Eluri Srinivasa Rao on Wednesday, 7 May, along with other representatives, met with a three-member official committee headed by Principal Secretary (Revenue) Naveen Mittal.
The committee also has two more members Secretary (Panchayat Raj and Rural Development) Lokesh Kumar and Special Secretary to the deputy Chief minister (Finance and Planning) Krishna Bhaskar.
The meeting lasted about an hour where Naveen Mittal assured the employee representatives that his committee had taken note of their demands and would convey them to the Cabinet sub-committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka for further decision-making. He also promised a follow-up meeting with the TGEJAC leaders.
Earlier, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, while acknowledging the pressure these demands would place on the state exchequer, made a blunt statement asking whether employees expected a pay hike at the cost of welfare schemes meant for the general public. However, later he promised to look into the demands.
Keeping his word that he would facilitate talks, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy constituted the three-member official committee.
The committee has been tasked with identifying and categorizing pending issues, assessing grievances, and submitting a comprehensive report with actionable recommendations within seven days.
During their meeting with the committee, the employee unions reiterated key demands, including:
Revanth Reddy recently remarked sarcastically whether they (employees) “wanted to cut him up and eat him,” saying that even if they did, he had no resources to meet their demands—remarks that sparked outrage among employee unions. He also said there was no money and no was ready to advance loans. He said twice that the state had gone bankrupt.
Adding to the controversy, the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) launched a scathing attack on the chief minister, accusing him of failing to boost government revenue and branding him “the most inept, inefficient, and incompetent chief minister any Indian state has ever seen.”
Despite expressing the state’s financial constraints, the chief minister reiterated the government’s willingness to hold talks with the employee unions. He advised them to meet with the Chief Secretary or Finance Department officials to address their concerns.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
