Vijayawada: The tour of members of the AP NGO Association and Amaravati JAC in Nandyal, meeting their employees and requesting them to support the ruling TD, has become controversial.
Employees objected to AP NGO president Ashok Babu and Amaravati JAC chairman Bopparaju Venkateswarulu meeting with ministers and association employees for the past two days ahead of the August 23 Nandyal be election.
Mr Ashok Babu met employees’ association leaders, pensioners and members of other government-employee related associations along with ministers and sought support for the TD. Mr Venkateswarlu met revenue employees associations and asked them to vote for the TD.
Many employees are astonished that the staff associations were supporting the ruling party. The nexus between the government and associations has become the point of discussion in the state.
The state government has lured both the associations by resolving their long pending issues like that of compensatory jobs.
An important leader of a non-gazetted officer association said, “Our integrity is affected with the association heads openly supporting the TD.”
When contacted, Mr Ashok Babu did not respond while Mr Venkateswarulu said they had gone to Mahanandi of Kurnool district, which is very near to Nandyal, to release posters against the contributory pension scheme for its upcoming protest and discuss employees’ problems.
There is increasing criticism that the non-gazetted officials are becoming affiliated organisations of the government.
According to sources, the TD leaders had met the association heads after the Nandyal poll notification was released and requested to support.
In return, the government resolved their long pending issues of compassionate appointment to dependents of government employees and revision of compensatory allowances from '40,000 to Rs 60,000, from Rs 80, 000 to Rs 5 lakh and from '8 lakh to '10 lakh.
The state government assured them of resolving other issues and appealed for support. The employees said it was not right to compromise with the government in the name of resolving issues.
An employee working with the irrigation department said the open support to the government was costing the staff their self-respect and the association leaders, for their benefit, were forcing employees to support the ruling TD.
