Are VMC employees taken for a ride by the State Government? Yes, if the unfolding of high-volt drama is any indication. The Corporation employees are unlikely to get government salaries.
Just five months ago, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister M. Mahidhar Reddy asserted that the VMC employees could not be paid through treasury or under the 010 head of account.
“As per the JNNURM guidelines and conditions, the mission cities – Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Hyderabad – would have to generate their own resources and meet the expenditure including salaries,” the Minister said then.
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Despite this situation, the government would explore whether there were any other options, he said during his visit to the city on January 19.
The tone and tenor of Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy indicated that the Government had no intention to bring the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) employees under treasury fold, even while stating that the government was considerate towards the employees’ plea.
The Minister said on Thursday: “the Government is contemplating sanctioning grant-in-aid to the VMC.”
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It buttresses the Municipal Administration Minister’s statement that the Government was exploring other options. If the grant-in aid were to be option before the Government, the Corporation employees would get a raw deal as the proposals regarding grant-in aid would have to be renewed every year unlike Government salaries, officials say.
The Corporation employees feel that the very statement — grant in aid — was enough to say that the government was not serious about the issue.
The officials also point out that the Government had rejected the proposal at meetings convened in Hyderabad. The government, instead, asked the Corporation to meet the salaries by raising additional revenues, they recall.
The VMC would save Rs.100 crore to Rs. 120 crore if it’s the employees’ salaries were to be paid by the Government. There are about 3,000 permanent employees in the Corporation.