CPI secretary and former MLA Chada Venkat Reddy today lashed out at the state government for recommending a 7.5% wage hike in the recently-released Pay Revision Commission (PRC) report.
"What made the TRS government think that it could offer a 7.5% salary rise when the employees had clearly asked for a 63% increase? The implementation of the PRC has already been delayed by nearly three years. It is time that the government takes cognisance of the employees' needs, and meets their demands," Reddy said.
"The government should hold talks with the employees, and take a decision on the matter by January-end," he added.
The CPI leader expressed his displeasure at various other recommendations made in the report as well, including the proposed retirement age, and asked the government to rectify them and to "truly stand by the employees".
"The KCR government should not ignore the employees and should instead protect their interests. It is crucial that their pay be increased this year as the Covid-19 pandemic hit all the people of the state hard. The price rises have only exacerbated monetary problems. Keeping this in mind, KCR must ensure that the employees are treated justly," he said.
Many political parties and leaders in the state have been targeting the TRS government for not "standing by the government employees" in the state.
For its "failure" to assure the welfare of the teachers in the state and to strengthen education in the state, the CPI had
urged the government to take a more active role in strengthening the sector, last month.
The BJP had even met Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to
discuss the "deterioration" of the higher education institutions in the state, and had alleged that the sector had seen continuous deterioration under the TRS' rule.