Numbing Numbers: PRC report unscientific, flays Prof Nageshwar

•     KCR implemented a 43 per cent fitment after the formation of Telangana despite the then PRC recommending 29 per cent. The Rosaiah government in united AP gave 39 per cent. Thus, the government employees cannot digest such a low fitment

•     HRA is reduced by six per cent. PRC recommended a deduction of one per cent of basic pay towards employee health scheme. Thus, the PRC, while proposing a 7.5 per cent increase in pay recommended a seven per cent reduction on these 2 counts

Hyderabad: Contesting the TRS government claim of being employee-friendly, former MLC Prof K Nageshwar said on Thursday that the PRC (Pay Revision Commission) recommendations do not reflect this sentiment.

In a statement, he pointed out that the PRC fitment formulae has no scientific basis. The minimum wage has been increased from Rs 13,000, as in the last PRC, to Rs 19,000, which amounts to a 46 per cent raise. The DA to be merged is nearly 30.4 per cent.

"This means that the fitment should be at 15.6 per cent. But, perhaps owing to political dictates, the PRC might have altered the formulae to arrive at 7.5 per cent to leave an elbow room for the Chief Minister to increase," he stated.

Nageshwar found that the level of fitment is the lowest since 1974 and substantially lower than what was given to the government staff in the last two pay revisions.

"KCR implemented a 43 per cent fitment after the formation of Telangana despite the then PRC recommending 29 per cent. The Rosaiah government in united AP gave 39 per cent. Thus, the government employees cannot digest such a low fitment," he noted.

The former MLC held that KCR had always claimed that Telangana was a rich State. However, on the contrary, AP is considered to be a financially beleaguered State, post bifurcation. But, the YS Jagan government has been implementing 27 per cent interim relief (IR) since August 2019. "The KCR government refused to declare IR despite repeated demands from the employees," he stated.

Further, he said that the HRA has been reduced by six per cent. The PRC recommended a deduction of one per cent of basic pay towards the employee health scheme. "Thus, the PRC, while proposing a 7.5 per cent increase in pay, in the form of fitment, has recommended a seven per cent reduction on these two counts.

Besides, the government staff who come under the new pension scheme (NPS) have to shell out an additional four per cent employee contribution. Thus, a government employee working in Hyderabad and recruited after 2004, when NPS came into effect, will get a lower take-home pay, if these recommendations are implemented, compared to what one is drawing now," he added.