Telangana government employees miffed over delayed salaries

He is just one of the several Telangana government employees who are voicing their discontent after getting salaries for six months.

They said they have been denied personal loans by banks and are facing many other issues because of the delayed payment of salaries.

“Our cheques are getting bounced. Our EMI interests are mounting, and even the banks are rejecting our loan applications citing low Cibil scores,” Ponnaganti explained.

Salaries paid alphabetically

Speaking to South First, Telangana Employee Association (TEA) president Sampath Kumar Swamy said, “Salaries and pensions are being given in phases to government employees in various districts. This is happening because the state government is financially weak.”

He explained that while some districts get paid within the first week of every month, some have to wait till the last week to get paid as the process is happening alphabetically.

Velpula Bala Raju, a senior auditor from the Nirmal district, told South First, “My department has around 300 employees, and we have been getting paid on the 16th of every month since January this year.”

Raju added that other departments in his district — like Roads and Buildings, Irrigation, Panchayat Raj, and Public Health — have also been affected because of salary delays.

Karimnagar TEA President MA Khadri, who works as a teacher, told South First that 4,000 teachers in the district have been getting paid on the 13th or 14th of every month.

Ponnaganti said, “The pay and accounts department used to disburse our salaries. Now, the process is done through the e-Kuber app. This app is under the Principal Secretary, and so the officials cannot do anything to speed up the process.”

BJP speaks up

Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar took to Twitter recently to post a letter addressed to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao demanding salaries for government employees on the first day of every month.

In his letter, he reminded the state government of the support given by these employees during the formation of Telangana, and asked that they be treated the right way.

ప్రభుత్వ ఉద్యోగులు, కాంట్రాక్టు సిబ్బందికి వేతనాలు, పెన్షన్ దారులకు పెన్షన్లు ప్రతినెల 1వ తేదీన చెల్లించాలని కోరుతూ తెలంగాణ ముఖ్యమంత్రి శ్రీ కె.చంద్రశేఖర్ రావు గారికి బహిరంగ లేఖ.@TelanganaCMO pic.twitter.com/wMdCLY5Oot

— Bandi Sanjay Kumar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@bandisanjay_bjp) July 24, 2022

The letter stated that the state budget announced for the 2022-23 financial year was ₹2,45,257 crore, and the income from other sources amounted to ₹1,08,212 crore.

The letter further explained that the yearly expenditure for the salaries of the government employees and teachers was ₹25,000 crore, and for pensioners was ₹11,000 crore, bringing the amount spent every month to ₹36,000 crore.

“It is condemnable that the state government is not releasing this budget on time for the employees, teachers, pensioners, and contract staff,” read the letter.