Vijayawada, Sep 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has condemned the police cane charge on the village and ward secretariat employees protesting here in support of their demands.
Taking to his official X account on Sunday, Jagan Mohan Reddy said that brutal assault by the N. Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government on village and ward secretariat employees is 'utterly inhuman'.
He urged Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to immediately order a judicial inquiry into the cane charge, apologise to the employees and unconditionally revoke all the suspensions imposed on them.
"The police cane-charge on government employees is an extremely serious matter. When the government is unwilling to hold talks with them over their demands, how can raising their voices through a democratic protest be treated as a crime? Will you beat them with lathis merely for speaking out? Will you show no consideration even for women employees, injure them and drag them away? Who gave you the right to attack peaceful protesters? Will you intercept employees travelling to participate in the dharna, detain them in police stations and subject them to torment? Is it not atrocious to indiscriminately suspend a large number of employees simply to prevent them from participating in the protest?" Jagan Mohan Reddy asked.
"Mr. Chandrababu Naidu Garu, is this democracy? Your authoritarianism is growing with each passing day. How can you assume that you can get away with anything merely because you are in power? Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, from the very first day you assumed office, you have pursued a vendetta against the village and ward secretariats that our government introduced as a revolutionary administrative reform unparalleled anywhere in the country. You have relentlessly targeted the village and ward secretariats—which are our brainchild and delivered more than 540 services at the grassroots—as well as the volunteer system, with the clear objective of dismantling them. You have continuously conspired to erase the very spirit of Gram Swaraj," the YSRCP Chief said.
He claimed that a single notification, YSRCP government had created 1.34 lakh permanent jobs—an unprecedented initiative in the country's history—along with another 2.6 lakh positions under the volunteer system to ensure transparent governance at the village and ward levels.
"However, under the pretext of rationalisation, your (Telugu Desam Party-led state) government has placed nearly 30,000 permanent jobs at risk. You also made false promises that the Rs 5,000 honorarium paid to volunteers by our (previous YSRCP) government would be increased to Rs 10,000, only to betray them after coming to power."
"You have now shifted the services previously delivered by volunteers onto secretariat employees, burdening them with an unbearable workload. In the process, you have brought transparency and doorstep delivery of governance to an end. Unable to withstand the hardships, harassment and pressure imposed by your atrocious administration, nearly 100 employees have lost their lives over the past two-and-a-half years—some due to severe stress and others by suicide. When they are enduring such immense hardship and your government has no intention of listening to their grievances, how can it be wrong for them to raise their voices through a peaceful protest, Mr Chandrababu Naidu?" Jagan Mohan Reddy asked.
The former Chief Minister told CM Chandrababu Naidu that it is not only village and ward secretariat employees who are taking to the streets.
"Employees from every section are protesting because you made promises to them in your manifesto and betrayed them after coming to power. You promised Interim Relief (IR) and a Pay Revision Commission (PRC) immediately upon assuming office. But there is neither IR nor PRC. You removed the PRC Chairman appointed by our (previous YSRCP) government."
"Five Dearness Allowance (DA) instalments that employees are rightfully entitled to remain pending. It was only after employees took to the streets that you (CM Chandrababu Naidu) announced the release of two DA instalments, and even then, you deferred payment of the arrears. Surrender-leave payments also remain pending. Your (Telugu Desam Party) government owes employees nearly Rs 40,000 crore. In addition to all this, you are now victimising village and ward secretariat employees and imposing an unbearable workload on them," Jagan Mohan Reddy added.
Source: IANS
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