CM Revanth Reddy Positive on Release of Two DAs

The Telangana government may release two pending Dearness Allowance (DA) instalments for employees, teachers and pensioners soon, with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy reportedly taking a positive view of the demand. An announcement could be made around September 18, when the Chief Secretary is scheduled to meet employee associations. Joint Action Committee (JAC) representatives met the Chief Minister at the Assembly on Thursday and discussed key demands, including the Pay Revision Commission (PRC) announcement, release of pending DAs, clearance of pending bills, implementation of the Employees Health Scheme (EHS) and permission for On Duty (OD) facilities for employee associations. The representatives said five DAs were pending and requested the government to issue orders for three of them during the ongoing Assembly session. Following the Chief Minister’s response, some JAC leaders said they understood that two DAs could be released shortly.

The Chief Minister assured the employee representatives that the PRC report would be examined and finalised after discussions with the associations. He also said that after the Assembly session, he would meet the Finance Department to review the state’s financial position and take steps to resolve employee-related issues. Reddy also assured the representatives that another meeting would be held to finalise solutions. According to the JAC, the Chief Minister said they could meet him whenever required and described his office as a “rachabanda”, adding that they could even meet him at night to discuss their concerns. On pending bills, the representatives sought the release of Rs 2,000 crore every month, while the Chief Minister reportedly said Rs 10,000 crore had already been released since January. He also responded positively to the demand for the pending OD facility for employee associations this year. Earlier, JAC representatives met second PRC chairman Shivashankar and urged him to submit the report at the earliest. He reportedly said he would hold discussions with Finance Department officials on September 15. The JAC leaders also met Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar and discussed employee issues.