TS employees pay to go up
Handing out a series of sops, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday announced the setting up of a Pay Revision Commission in three days to revise salaries and pensions for 4.5 lakh employees and 1.8 lakh pensioners.
Mr Rao has set a deadline of August 15 for the PRC to submit its report. This is the first PRC to be constituted in Telangana state.
Mr Rao offered to give Interim Relief (IR) for employees on June 2 on the occasion of TS formation day to increase their salaries till the PRC recommendations are implemented.
Mr Rao said the employees deserved more pay and benefits as they were working sincerely and with commitment for the last four years due to which Telangana has become the No.1 state in the country in various sectors.
Mr Rao ruled out increasing the salaries for TS Road Transport Corporation staff as demanded by the unions, saying that the corporation was facing a huge debt burden.
Mr Rao remained noncommittal on abolition of the Contributory Pension Scheme ( CPS) and restoration of Old Pension Scheme (OPS), which is one of the major demands of employees. He promised to set up a committee to study the issue and make recommendations.
Handing out a series of sops, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday announced the setting up of a Pay Revision Commission in three days to revise salaries and pensions for 4.5 lakh employees and 1.8 lakh pensioners.
Mr Rao said the CPS was not under the purview of the state government but the Centre had to take a decision on abolishing it.
Staff unions which are agitating against the CPS say that it works against the interest of employees and pensioners.
“Earlier, the PRCs used to take years to submit reports. But, we have now brought a revolutionary change to expedite the process. Earlier, the PRC used to be a onemember commission. This time, it will be a three-member commission,” Mr Rao told the media at Pragathi Bhavan here.
Mr Rao had invited various associations of employees and pensioners to Pragathi Bhavan for talks on their longpending demands. He discussed every issue raised they raised during the course of the meeting which stretched for six hours.
The employees associations have put forth 18 demands.
The Chief Minister approved a proposal to lift the ban on general transfers of staff that was imposed in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
He also approved giving promotions to staff, reduction of service period from three years to two years to give eligibility for promotions,
Mr Rao also allowed spouse transfers to enable couples to to work at the same place.
Mr Rao approved bringing in a new policy on Leave Travel Concession (LTC) to remove restrictions.
Currently, LTC rules require families to tour only within the state or submit bus/train tickets as proof.
The Chief Minister said the government will give a token amount towards Leave Travel Concession and it will be left to staff to utilise it.