Telangana Employees Call Off Stir

Causing major relief to citizens and the state government, the government employees from the Telangana region returned to work on Saturday, albeit 'temporarily', after 16 days of paralyzing the administration as part of their non-cooperation agitation.

The employees returned to work following an agreement which was reached with the government during the talks with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, held at the Secretariat till late in the night on Friday.

Over 3 lakh employees from the Telangana region had pledged to take part in the non-cooperation agitation on February 17, and had abstained from working.

Subsequent to the agreement reached with the government, the employees' leaders said that the government has accepted some of their demands and hence they are calling off the stir. The leaders further cautioned that they would resume their strike if the government goes back on its promises.

As part of the deal, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy promised to lead a delegation of JAC leaders to New Delhi, to press upon the Centre to table the Telangana bill in the Parliament. A panel, with a retired judge at its helm, will be set up to look into complaints of injustice done to people from Telangana, in the matters of education and employment, he added.

Another major decision which paved the way for the employees calling off their stir temporarily is that the government has agreed to pay the salaries of the employees who were on strike for 16 days.

The stir had led to the government losing about Rs. 800 crore per day in revenues, leaving it incapable of paying the salaries and pensions to its staff.

Apart from the government revenue, the stir has had a major impact on the common man, with practically all economic activity being affected.

Courtesy: INN