Telangana Finance Minister Etela Rajender told the Assembly said that his government was treating the employment issue as a top responsibility.
Assuring the State's legislators that the TRS government would stick to its word on employment, Telangana Finance Minister Etela Rajender said that his government was treating the employment issue as a top responsibility.
Responding to the doubts of members during Question Hour on Friday over the regularization of the contract employees' services, Etela said that the TRS government had decided to regularize the services of all those who fulfilled the conditions prescribed in Section 10A of the Telangana (Regulation of Appointments of Public Services and Rationalisation of Staff Pattern and Pay Structure) Act, 1994 (Act 2 of 1994).
Not satisfied with the answer, BJP floor leader Dr K Laxman said that there was no clarity on who would be regularized. The government had said before and after coming to power that it would fill 1.07 lakh vacant posts, he pointed out. He also said that the youth were demanding there should be no interviews to Group-II posts, and that the government had the responsibility to respond on it.
Responding to that and other doubts of members, Etela said that the Telangana movement had been taken up for water, funds and employment, and the government would stick to its word that it would fill all the vacant posts in the State. He said that there were 5,23,675 government jobs in Telangana at the time the State was formed, of which 1,07,744 were vacant. He said that the identification of the persons eligible for regularization was in progress, and that the district-wise details and additional financial burden would be known upon the completion of the process.
Stating that there were some hurdles in regularizing the contract employees, he said that the government would regularize those contract employees who were working in State government jobs as on June 2, 2014. Those who were not irregular and full-time (not time scale) employees would be regularized, he said.
He said that the government had identified the contract employees district-wise as follows:
1,243 in Rangareddy
3,193 in Hyderabad
2,391 in Medak
4,134 in Mahabubnagar
3,089 in Karimnagar
1,422 in Nizamabad
The government had also created 18,423 new jobs, and 1,000 in the agriculture department additionally. More than 11,000 jobs had been filled till now, and the government would announce 10,927 posts in DSC and 2,444 posts in residential schools. The government had already filled 2,650 engineer, 3,950 RTC and 4,000 Singareni jobs, he revealed.
He also said that the government had enhanced the minimum remuneration of outsourced / contract personnel working for it to Rs. 12,000 per month in the first category Rs. 15,000 in the second category, and Rs. 17,500 in the third category. He said that the overall burden of the hike on the State exchequer would be Rs. 310 crores per annum.
Reacting sharply to the data and answers, Laxman alleged that the government had given an elaborate answer only to cover its failures. He also alleged that the government was closing schools in the naming of rationalization.
Reacting to that, Etela said that the government was solving the problems with love for the people. "We are more concerned about the problems of the Telangana people than with the Opposition parties. Laxman might have forgotten that the Central government stopped releasing funds to model schools permanently." Reacting to that, Laxman said that the State needed to stop using the services of Asha and other workers if it felt that way.
Interfering, the Speaker said that it was not a debate but the Question Hour. He said that the members needed to issue a notice and come for a discussion in another forum. But Laxman insisted the Speaker for a chance to speak on it. Legislative Affairs Minister T Harish Rao then said that the members needed to raise issues by serving short notice if the issue held such importance.
At this juncture, the Speaker postponed the remaining questions for another day, resulting in Laxman shouting at the Speaker seeking a mike to lodge his protest. However, the Speaker announced the tea break.