Telangana caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao sure has the goodwill of government employees.
Though disappointed that the announcement on expected windfall in the form of interim relief (IR) did not come before the dissolution of the Assembly, employees’ associations have quickly reconciled with the situation. After all, it’s only a matter of three months when the elections would be over and new government would be in place, they hope.
PRC arrears
First, the employees have faith in the Chief Minister who had given generous fitment for the previous PRC. The Chief Minister had also taken the initiative of paying the arrears even before the employees asked for it. No other State has paid the PRC arrears to their employees so far, but Telangana State has been paying it every month along with the salary and by November, the arrears would be paid fully. “It’s just two months since the new Pay Revision became due. Unlike in the past when the governments would take at least an year after the new PRC is due to constitute a Pay Revision Commission, the Chief Minister has already constituted one,” president of Telangana State Secretariat Association M. Narendear Rao said.
Meanwhile, the employees’ associations are making their own calculations and working out actual expenditure to be incurred by the State government for sanctioning IR given the notion that it would prove considerable financial burden on the State.
Basic pay
The Finance Department tends to calculate the expenditure on the basis of total cadre strength and not on the basis of actual strength of employees. The IR is based on basic pay and not on gross. The employees’ associations reportedly are looking into these aspects too, sources said.
The PRC is yet to give its report as the employees’ associations are still submitting their representations and the commission would soon schedule meetings with representatives of associations for their submissions with due justification.
