JAC demands payment of full wages; Cong slams TRS govt

Hyderabad, Apr 1 (PTI) The Joint Action Committee of

Telangana government employees has demanded that the state state government pay full salaries and not defer payment as decided on account of the lockdown due to COVID-19.

The government move also drew flak from the opposition Congress and BJP.

The JAC at its meeting on Tuesday said that employees who are continuously engaged in efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 should be paid full wages. There should also be no paycuts to pensioners, it said.

The Committee said the issue was brought to the notice of Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, who said that certain amount from their wages has been kept in reserve in view of the difficult situation being faced by the state.

The JAC said they would take the matter to the Chief Minister.

Citing dwindling revenues, the government had on on March 30 decided to implement pay cut for government employees, including All India Services Officers and pensioners.

It was decided to cut 75 per cent of salaries of the Chief Minister, Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, chairmen of various corporations and local public representatives.

the government had said that n respect of all other category of employees, there shall be deferment of 50 per cent in gross salary, except Class-IV Employees

For Class-IV employees, outsourcing and contract employees, there shall be a deferment of 10 per cent in gross salary, it said.

The Congress on Wednesday came down heavily on the salary cuts, with Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president and MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy demanding that the entire amount be paid to the employees in two instalments on the lines of other states like Maharashtra.

It is strange that the Chief Minister has announced a huge salary cut after one week of lockdown, which has exposed his government's incompetence to manage state's finances, Reddy said.

In a letter to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday, state BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar faulted the government for effecting pay cut without first holding discussions with employees associations.

"It is unbelievable that the state governments financial situation became so bad within just 15 days of lockdown as the TRS government had declared the state to be a rich one," Kumar said.