Andhra Pradesh minister has said that the salaries will be credited as per the new Pay Revision Commission (PRC) recommendations from February 1. The state's Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Botcha Satyanarayana said the government is determined to provide salaries to the employees as per the new Pay Revision, which is based on the 11th Pay Revision Commission Recommendations. "The government has alternatives and will take action according to the legal framework if needed," he added.
Last month, the state government ordered the implementation of revised pay scales to the government employees according to the 11th Pay revision Commission (PRC).
However, the government staff has protested against the new PRC award and demanded the continuation of the old pay scales. The employees' association's joint action committee (JAC) alleged that what they had accepted in the joint staff council was different from what the government had announced. The Government employees and teachers fear there will be a downward revision in salaries.
Today, the Andhra Pradesh government has invited the agitating staffers and teachers for talks to break the pay revision imbroglio. Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma called upon employees to "let us talk to each other. Let us not take stands which propel us on self-destructive path".
Amid the agitation by employees over pay revision, the Andhra Pradesh government issued a fresh order correcting a minor anomaly in the house rent allowance (HRA), limited only to staff working in the offices of various heads of departments (HoD) around Vijayawada.
Simultaneously, the government ordered disciplinary action against the errant staff of the treasuries department for failing to comply with its instructions on the preparation of salary bills for January 2022.
The government is also said to be weighing the option of clamping the Essential Services Maintenance Act to thwart the indefinite strike called by Employees and teachers from midnight of February 6 demanding immediate withdrawal of the pay revision orders that were detrimental to their interests.
The fresh order issued by Special Chief Secretary (Finance) Shamsher Singh Rawat said all employees working in the HoD offices situated around Vijayawada in the Amaravati capital region would be paid HRA at 16% as against the 8% fixed vide the January 17 order. This would be on par with the HRA paid to the state Secretariat staff as well as other HoD employees located in Vijayawada, he said. The latest order did not mention any changes in the other HRA slabs, one of the main causes of disgruntlement among employees in the whole pay revision exercise.
