TPCC terms salary cut 'ill-timed' in telangana

Hyderabad: TPCC on the Tuesday condemned the State government's decision to cut the salaries of employees, including Class IV, outsourcing and contract employees and described it as 'hasty' and 'ill-timed'.

"Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is wrongly trying to take advantage of an epidemic to cut down the salaries of employees and pensions. He should first disclose the figures of funds spent by the State government to deal with the coronavirus and the estimated revenue loss to the State's exchequer due to lockdown," said TPCC treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy.

"While expenditure to deal with the coronavirus situation should be the top priority, it cannot be used as an excuse to cut salaries of government employees," he said.

Narayana Reddy said that the press release sent by the Chief Minister's Office on Monday evening does not specify the month or period for which the salaries would be cut. However, he said employees and pensioners would be badly hit even if their one day's salary is cut.

He said every month the State government spends nearly Rs 1900 crore on salaries and wages and nearly Rs 860 crore on pensions. By affecting a cut by 50 per cent in salaries and pensions, the State government, on an average, could save about Rs 1370 crore in a month.