Expressing satisfaction over the implementation of 37 out of 48 demands placed by the Government Employees’ Association, AP JAC Amaravati ended its 92-day agitation on June 8 (Thursday).
Members of the JAC, after issuing a protest notice to the Government of Andhra Pradesh on February 9, had been staging agitations in different formats across the State in support of their demands.
A day after the Cabinet gave its nod to six major demands, albeit with certain modifications, proposed by the employees’ associations, the JAC organised a State-level meeting in Guntur.
Hundreds of employees took out a rally and later gathered at the Revenue Bhavan, near the District Collectorate, for the meeting.
Addressing the employees, president of the association Bopparaju Venkateswarlu said that they decided to withdraw the protest programmes as the State government had positively reacted to their demands.
He said that 37 out of the 48 demands, both financial and administrative, were accepted by the government. The JAC would continue to pursue the remaining demands, he added.
He also said that the problems of employees from the lower rung such as the municipal workers and outsourced employees, which had come to the notice of the JAC, would be taken up at the appropriate level.
Mr. Venkateswarlu said the government had taken a decision to regularise the services of the contract employees because of the protests staged by the association.
Listing the achievements of the protest programmes, he said the government agreed to deposit ₹3,600 crore into the accounts of employees as part of GPF and other retirement benefits. The government also implemented PRC to 2,096 employees who got promotion in the APSRTC and extend OTS to the RTC employees. White ration card was sanctioned to the employees and pensioners having an income less than ₹10,000 per month.
The government had also done away with typewriting as qualification for recruitments. A total of 1,158 people whose family members had lost their lives in the line of duty were given employment, he said.
Mr. Venkateswarlu further said that DA was released. Targets set for the village and ward secretariat employees had been removed. Similarly, a sum of ₹2,443 crore had been deposited in PRAN account, which was supposed to be credited as part of the employees’ share of 10% CPS.
The government also agreed to implement 16% HRA to the employees working in the newly formed district headquarters across the State. The EHS was now brought under the Green Channel clearance, and the employees could avail of the money as and when they needed. The government also deposited ₹520 crore for the police welfare fund, he said.
‘Concerns over GPS remain’
Referring to the introduction of the Guaranteed Pension Scheme (GPS) in place of the existing Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), Mr. Venkateswarlu said the government employees still had some concerns over it.
“The employee’ unions have been expecting the government to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS),” Mr. Venkateswarlu said.
“While we welcome the GPS, we still demand implementation of the OPS. Except for one component, the government is implementing all OPS components in the GPS. Hence, we are requesting the government to consider the OPS instead of the GPS,” he said.
Meanwhile, AP Secretariat CPS Association president Kotla Rajesh, in a release, said that since the government was yet to reveal details of the GPS, they would take a decision on it later.
