PRC Issue: No use if employees adopt adamant stand, says Botcha

Vijayawada: Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Botcha Satyanarayana said the PRC issue will be settled through discussions and advised the employees association that there will be no use if they adopt adamant approach.

He said members of the PRC Sadhana Samithi were not coming for talks though the government invited them for discussions repeatedly. He said some associations came forward for discussions on Friday.

Speaking to mediapersons, he said that if the employees were bent on going ahead with their agitation, then the government has no option except to act on its own. Condemning the campaign of cut in wages, the Minister said employees should check their salary bills before coming to a conclusion.

He said that the government is ready to discuss if any association came forward. He said that the Ministers' committee is waiting at the Secretariat for a dialogue with employees JAC.

He made it clear that the Ministers would speak with the employees if they came forward for discussions. Government advisor (Public affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the Ministers committee waited for discussions with employees at the Secretariat on Friday. He said January salaries will be paid as per the new PRC. He said if the employees took part in discussions with Ministers' committee, then the government would have reconsidered the plea to remit old wages and settle the HRA issue.

He said that the government was ready to resolve the issue, if the employees opined that they would incur losses due to the HRA slabs. He said the employees who had insisted on the fitment earlier, were now raising other issues. Meanwhile, the RTC employees unions decided to extend support to agitation launched by the PRC Sadhana Samithi. Speaking to mediapersons here on Friday, they said that the RTC employees were losing several benefits after the corporation was merged with the government..

APJAC Amaravati chairman Bopparaju Venkateswarlu said that 10 unions of RTC employees came forward to extend support to the ongoing agitation of the government employees.