Hyderabad: Much to the embarrassment of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and employee-turned politicians in the ruling party, the “employee-friendly” TRS government is regularly coming under attack from its employees these days.
Employees in the revenue department and contract staff in the municipal department went on strike from Monday.
Various associations are coming out with agitation programmes from this month to press their demands.
Thus more strike notices are to follow in July from university teachers, school teachers and from contract staff in other departments.
Employees, who stood behind the TRS right from the statehood agitation in the early 2000s to winning the 2014 elections, are now openly criticising the government for failing to resolve their problems and demands even after a year.
Employees had played a crucial role in TRS party activities during the T-movement. TNGO leaders had called the shots with their direct access to TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao. After the state was formed and the TRS government came to power in June 2014, TNGO leaders got their due.
Then TNGO president V. Swamy Goud was made an MLC and subsequently elevated to chairman of the Legislative Council, while another employee leader, V. Srinivas Goud, was made MLA from Mahabubnagar.
He won the seat and subsequently became Parliamentary Secretary, with Cabinet rank. It’s a different issue though that he is no more in the post after the HC quashed the Act made by TS.
Another TNGO leader, V. Deviprasad, also joined the TRS and was given the MLC ticket to contest the Graduate constituency election. He, however, lost to the TDP-BJP combine.
“We had high expectations from the TRS government, especially from KCR, since he has been aware of the problems being faced by employees since T-agitation days. Unfortunately, even after he became CM, there has been no change in our situation. The pending problems of undivided AP continue. Except holding talks with us and giving assurances over our demands, nothing has materialised so far. We have patiently waited for over a year so as not to trouble the government in the beginning. But we can’t wait anymore since no sincere effort is seen,” said TS Tahsildars Association president V. Lachi Reddy.
TS Revenue Services president M. Shivashanker said, “Majority of the revenue posts at all levels are lying vacant and the existing staff are over-burdened. We are being assigned all the tasks, right from the household survey in August 2014 to verification of beneficiaries for pensions, food security cards, LRS etc. Despite working day and night for the last one year, we are not able to meet the targets and higher ups are holding us responsible for all pending works.”
