CM under fire for not conceding demands of Anganwadi staff

Mangalagiri: TDP national spokesperson Kommareddy Pattabhiram wanted to know whether lives of 1.10 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers s in the state not worth the palace that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had built on Rishikonda for his ‘luxurious life’

Pattabhiram told media persons here on Monday that the entire expenditure to meet the genuine demands of Anganwadis, municipal workers, the staff of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the 108-104 ambulance employees is just peanuts compared to the thousands of crores that Jagan Mohan Reddy has been spending for his affluent life. How are the provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) invoked and how can they be caned when all of them are fighting for their genuine demands, he wondered.

He asked was it not fact that Jagan had promised Anganwadis during the 2019 elections campaign that he would revise their wages to ensure they get Rs 1,000 more than their counterparts in Telangana.

"The current monthly wages of Anganwadis in Telangana is Rs 13,600 and Jagan, as promised, should have revised these wages to Rs 14,600 but only Rs 11,500 is being paid to them now," he pointed out. The annual burden on the exchequer is merely Rs 395 crore if the wages of the 1.10 lakh Anganwadis are revised as promised, he pointed out and said that Jagan has spent a whopping Rs 433 crore to build the palace on Rishikonda for his luxurious life.

It is really atrocious that the 108-104 employees who save several lives everyday are not being paid on time, he said and asked why Rs 188 crore being paid to the Aurobindo Pharma, which is Jagan's binami, in the name of maintenance of 108 ambulances. How Ramayapatnam port and solar parks worth thousands of crores are illegally being handed over to Aurobindo Pharma which is not paying even the salaries of the employees on time, he asked.

The Centre bears 60 per cent of the total expenditure of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the state government's share is merely 40 per cent but still the salaries of the staff members are not being paid by Jagan, he said. The entire state has been experiencing agitations, dharnas and strikes by different sections as all of them feel that they have been deceived by the Chief Minister.