Andhra Pradesh: Treasury employees refuse to prepare new salaries

Vijayawada: The issue of PRC seems to be becoming more and more complicated with employees adopting a tough posture demanding withdrawal of the GOs on 11th PRC. Leaders of all the four unions have decided to give a final shape to the agitational plan on Friday morning. They will also serve a strike notice to the Chief Secretary.

In a major twist, the AP Treasury Services employees are said to have refused to process the salary bills as per the new GOs on the grounds that they were also opposed to them and were part of the agitation.

Treasury employees claim that the Government had prepared new software so that the salary bills can be prepared based on the new fitment of 23 per cent, new DA and revised rates of HRA. Normally, when such an exercise is taken up it would have an "acceptance column", indicating that the employee has agreed to the new salary. But it is said that this time that column was deleted. The employees also said that normally the bills are processed by 28th of every month as the treasury must check the attendance of the employees, it must see who has retired or died during the month or gone on deputation or transferred. AP Treasury Services Association president G Ravikumar and general secretary D Ramana Reddy said that the Finance Department was pressuring them to prepare the bills by Friday. Apart from being part of the agitation and opposed to the new GOs, they said the bills cannot be processed unless the BDOs submit bills and are verified. 

Processing cannot be done in a hurry, they added.

Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Public Relations Perni Venkataramaiah told the media that the union leaders were misleading the employees. He said one should see whether they were getting gross higher wages or not.

The YSRCP government being employee-friendly had given 23 per cent fitment even to the contract and outsourcing employees despite not so good financial situation. The government decisions were conveyed to the unions and GOs were issued only after they had accepted them, he said.