Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 27 : Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLCs, along with retired government employees, will stage a dharna at Indira Park in Hyderabad today, demanding the immediate release of retirement benefits and pensions for state government employees.
BJP MLCs Anji Reddy and Malka Komuraiah, speaking to ANI, said the protest is aimed at pressing the Telangana government to clear long-pending retirement dues of employees who have completed their service.
Malka Komuraiah criticised the ruling Congress government, alleging that it had failed to honour its pre-election promises related to employee welfare. Highlighting the efforts made by the BJP-led central government and BJP-ruled states in ensuring employee benefits, he said retired employees in Telangana were being deprived of their rightful dues.
"The BJP MLCs are organising this protest in which the retired employees will be participating....They are not getting the retirement benefits. The Congress, before winning, made several fake promises, ensuring retirement benefits, among others. However, they are no longer paying the employees. Retired employees receive their money in small instalments...Only central government employees are getting all the employment benefits, and a similar case in all BJP-ruled states....We will be protesting against, and I request all the affected employees to join us," he said.
MLC Anji Reddy also raised concerns over the condition of outsourced employees working in various state government departments. He said that although these employees are part of government functioning, they do not receive job security or benefits comparable to regular government staff.
He said, "Nearly 5 lakh people are working in Telangana across 31 departments. In the Panchayati Raj, the number is 1 lakh people. 70,000 people work in municipal corporations, and 60,000 work in the health sector. Many of them are outsourced employees. They work through agencies, but they are also government employees. However, they have no guarantee of work or the benefits of a government job....If a state-run corporation replaces the agencies, it will be beneficial."
Meanwhile, Telangana Jagruthi founder K Kavitha on Monday launched a sharp attack on the central government over the caste census issue, alleging that it had "crushed the hopes" of the OBC community in Telangana by not including the BC label in the caste census document released earlier.
Speaking in Hyderabad, Kavitha said, "I would like to congratulate the nation on this Republic Day. May the spirit of Republic Day reflect in our day-to-day lives and in every decision we make to empower our nation and to bring more respect to the nation through our deeds."
She accused the Centre of ignoring the concerns of backward communities, saying, "The Central government has crushed the hopes of the OBC community of Telangana by not including the BC label in the caste census document that they released yesterday."
Kavitha further announced that Telangana Jagruthi will take the initiative to compile detailed data on backward castes and sub-castes in the state."We are conducting a roundtable conference in Telangana on the 29th of this month to compile data on these castes and subcastes and their proper names, and we will submit it to the central government," she said.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor