VIJAYAWADA: The APNGOs’ Association on Tuesday urged the State government to release the pending two instalments of Dearness Allowance (DA) to the employees at the earliest.
Association members led by its president P. Ashok Babu met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at the Interim Government Complex (IGC) at Velagapudi near here. Mr. Naidu is believed to have assured them that the Government would look into the issue.
The Association leaders brought to the notice of the Chief Minister that the government had to release the DA dues in January and July last year.
The government would have to pay Rs. 90 crore per month to the employees and the pensioners for each instalment. It would also have to clear around Rs. 5,200 crore pay revision arrears.
The Chief Minister, however, reminded the Association members of the precarious financial position but assured them of a decision soon.
The employees had expected that the government would release the two instalments before Sankranti. A couple of days before the festival, the Association met the Chief Minister and announced that he had agreed to release the instalments before the festival.
Health cards
When contacted, Mr. Ashok Babu said they had brought issues such as increasing the salaries of the contract employees and regularising their services to the CM’s notice.
Referring to the problems faced in the provision of treatment in hospitals on the basis of health cards, he said though the employees had been paying the premium for the past one and half years, the hospitals were not accepting cards. This problem also was raised with the Chief Minister. The hospital managements and the government had arrived at an understanding regarding package rates. The CM had to approve of them, he said. The Chief Minister was also urged to take steps to extend the health card benefits to teachers, non-aided teachers, municipal employees etc. as it was a contributory scheme.
The health cards have been mired in procedural wrangles for over a year and the hospitals want the government to properly address the terms and conditions for rolling out the scheme as desired.
