Following the release of the state's Pay Revision Commission (PRC) report, several employees' union leaders in Telangana today staged protests at the temporary Secretariat at BRKR Bhavan and at the Pragathi Bhavan against the "meagre pay rise" recommended in the report and demanded that a new set of recommendations, meeting their demands, be drafted soon.
Deploring the KCR government's "failure" to ensure their welfare, the protestors shouted slogans against Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, and the PRC report which reportedly called for only a 7.5% wage hike.
They hit out at the government for ignoring their "just demands", and for supporting an "anti-employee" PRC report.
"We need another committee, comprising specialists, to address our issues as we have been suffering since the formation of Telangana in 2014. This cannot go on - CM KCR must intervene and help resolve our problems," they said.
Following the arrest of some protestors, the union members and leaders also expressed their displeasure at the police's intervention, and condemned the officials' "highhandedness" in dealing with the agitations.
Reacting to the incident, minister Srinivas Goud said that the government had not finalised the rate of the wage hike yet, and assured them that the CM would "surely pay heed to the employees' demands", and would soon take a call on the matter.
The TRS government, in a bid to pacify the government employees in the state, had constituted a three-member committee to look into the implementation of the PRC's recommendations. The committee had even
held a meeting a few days back. However, it looks like the government will have to do much more to get back on the good side of the agitators.