Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy has accused Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of ignoring Village Revenue Assistants (VRAs) after promising them pay scales and other benefits.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, he said though VRAs are part-time workers, they are involved in more than 30 works related to the government. After the Village Revenue Officers (VROs) system was abolished by the State government in 2020, the burden on VRAs has increased enormously.
Mr. Reddy reminded that the Chief Minister promised to give them pay scales on the floor of the Assembly and conveniently forgot it. The Seshadri Committee constituted to study their issues has not met even once so far showcasing the non-seriounessness of the government, he said.
He said it was unfair to treat the VRAs as slaves given their ‘exploitation’ by the government and snatching away their rights of good salary and other benefits. Out of the 23,000 VRAs in Telangana, 90% come from the poor scheduled castes and other backward communities. Utilising their services without salary and promotions was inhuman, he said and demanded the government to implement the pay scales immediately as promised.
A lot of VRAs had died unable to take the work pressure and also due to poor income and it was the government’s responsibility to save their families. He said two-bedroom houses should be allotted to them in villages.
