Andhra Pradesh government assures early resolution of long-pending employee issues
The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday assured employee unions that it would make every effort to address their long-pending service and financial issues. Addressing the
The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday assured employee unions that it would make every effort to address their long-pending service and financial issues. Addressing the media after nearly five hours of discussions between a ministerial panel and the representatives of 21 employee organisations at the State Secretariat, Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav said the government had received representations from all the participating organisations and would consolidate their demands before placing them before Chief Minister N.
Chandrababu Naidu for consideration. Key demands Keshav said key issues raised by the unions included constitution of the 12th Pay Revision Commission (PRC), announcement of Interim Relief (IR), release of pending Dearness Allowance (DA) instalments, and clearance of salary-related arrears. He assured the unions that the government would sincerely examine each demand and work towards an early resolution. Emphasising the government’s approach, Mr. Keshav said employees and public representatives were partners in governance, and that expenditure on employees should be viewed as an investment rather than a burden.
Shift to OPS He highlighted the government’s decision to replace the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) with the the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and the enhancement of the retirement age in the State public sector undertakings from 60 to 62 years. Referring to the State’s financial position, the Finance Minister said the government was working to overcome the debt burden inherited from the previous (YSR Congress Party) administration, while simultaneously attracting significant investments with the support from the Union government.
Chief Secretary G. Sai Prasad said most employee-related issues could be resolved through dialogue and assured the unions that all representations would be examined. Representatives of 21 employee organisations, including associations of government employees, teachers, revenue staff, pensioners, transport workers and other departments, participated in the meeting and presented their service-related and financial demands before the ministerial committee.
The BriefWire