Leaders of the Andhra Pradesh United Teachers’ Federation (UTF) are up in arms against what they called the “deceptive tactics” resorted to by the State government to deprive employees, teachers and pensioners of their rightful share of benefits under the 11th Pay Revision Commission.
In a statement on Sunday, federation’s State president and general secretary N. Venkateswarlu and K.S.S. Prasad said, now that the Ashutosh Misra report on the 11th PRC was out in the open, it was clear that the government was taking the employees for a ride. They demanded that the names of those behind this “deception” be made public.
They said the PRC report had clearly recommended 27% fitment, but the official committee constituted by the government initially offered 14.29% and later, portraying it as its magnanimity, announced 23% fitment. Because of this, they said the employees would lose at least one increment and it would be a long-term impact.
They said the government was resorting to “cheating tactics.” While the report mentioned an additional burden of ₹3,181 crore on the exchequer, the government claimed that it would impose a financial burden of ₹11,577 crore on it.
On the basis of these “lies,” it had deprived the employees’ benefits under HRA, gratuity and additional quantum pension, among other things. While the PRC recommended payment of increased gratuity to pensioners from July 1, 2018, the government was implementing it from January 2022, causing immense financial loss to the pensioners.
The leaders said the teacher associations had sensed this “unfair stand” of the government and walked out of the JAC and continued their protest. The government tried to mislead people by saying that certain political parties were behind the teacher associations.
They demanded implementation of the recommendations made by the Ashutosh Mishra Committee, and warned that if the government failed to pay heed to their pleas, they would mobilise government employees and pensioners onto a common platform and launch a sustained agitation once again.
Leaders of the Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ Federation (APTF) also denounced the “unfair’ stand of the government on the PRC, and said the claims made by it were “a pack of lies.”
They said the government should “right all the wrongs done” to the employees with regard to the PRC and implement benefits in strict adherence to the recommendations made by the report.
