The state government was not able to disburse Rs 800 crore in salary to its employees in the nine districts of the Telangana region because of the ongoing employees’ strike. The government had decided to pay salaries for the first 12 days of September, when employees attended duties, but the strike itself has ended up being an impediment to the disbursal of even these salaries, as the officers whose work it is to draw and disburse the salaries are on strike.
As a consequence, only 20 per cent of employees got their September salaries, and they were shocked to find how meagre was the amount they received. For example, teachers and Class-IV employees, who are paid around Rs 10,000 a month, found only Rs 300 to Rs 500 in their pay packets. The T-employees were paid for only the 12-14 days that they worked, under the ‘no-work-no-pay’ rule. Plus, the government deducted about 25 per cent of the amount towards provident fund, house building advance, education advance, employees’ group insurance, professional tax, ESI, etc.
Of the total 4 lakh striking employees in T-region, the teachers alone account for 1.70 lakh. The rest are from other government departments. Mr Madhusudhan Reddy, convener, Telangana Employees’ Joint Action Committee claims that these deductions are illegal and are aimed at derailing the T-movement. “As per the norms and financial code, the government should not deduct anything from salaries if the number of paid days is less than 15 days in a month. Though the employees were paid salaries for just 12-14 days, the government deducted the amount leaving nothing for the employees,” he said.
Much to the discomfort of the government, the staff engaged in essential services like sanitation and water supply also did not receive their salary in some places, particularly in gram panchayats where the newly introduced special officer system is yet to be streamlined. Officials briefed the government that it is estimated to save Rs 574 crore following the decision not to pay the salary for the strike period. The government arrived at the decision after the High Court upheld the ‘no-work-no-pay’ order.
