JPS Indefinite Strike Enters Second Day

The ongoing indefinite strike of over 9,000 Junior Panchayat Secretaries (JPS) of the State entered the second day today.

The secretaries held protests at all the MPDO offices across the State.

They also raised slogans and demanded that the State government take steps for immediate regularization of their services as they had completed on April 12 the probation period of four years fixed by the State government.

They also held placards highlighting the works they had discharged in their four-year service.

"As foot soldiers of the State government, we have discharged all the responsibilities entrusted by it to us. We also played an important role in the successful organization of the flagship program of the state government and the brainchild of CM K Chandrashekar Rao, Telangana ku Haritha Haram. This helped the State government bag 13 national awards from the union government recently. The awards would not have been won if we had not made concerted efforts to transform our villages into developed ones. All that we are requesting the State government in general and CM KCR in particular is regularization of our services," said a JPS union leader.

Children aged between one and three years also took part in the strike holding placards and urging KCR to regularise the services of their parents. "KCR grandfather! Please regularize the services of our parents," read a placard held by the children of a JPS from Hanumakonda district.

The strike is also receiving support from the village and mandal level public representatives. Several Sarpanches, MPTCs and ZPTCs took part in the strike and extended their support. Going a step ahead, the Sarpanches of Choukpally village in Narsapur mandal of Nirmal district and Nandigama village of Nizampet mandal locked up their GP offices and did not allow the newly appointed in-charge officers of the village to enter the GP buildings.

ZPTC of Kathalapur mandal of Jagityal district and Mandal Sarpanches Forum president Nagam Bhumaiah announced the body's support to the JPS, and asked them to continue their strike till their demands were fulfilled.

"The demands being made by the JPS are genuine. They have been playing an important role in the successful implementation of the brainchild of the CM Telanganaku Palle Pragathi ever since it was launched in the State, without even considering their regularisation status. They have successfully completed their regularisation term of four years on April 12, and are now demanding that the State government regularise them," he said after announcing the decision.

Meanwhile, administration in all the villages where the JPS have been posted has come to a standstill. Important citizen services like issuance of building permissions, layout permissions, building mutations and birth & death certificates have been stalled due to the strike.