Hyderabad: Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Monday, March 23, hit back at the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) over its record on government employees, accusing the previous government of leaving behind unpaid allowances, mounting arrears and a retirement age manipulation that has cost the current administration dearly.
Responding to a question by BRS Deputy Floor Leader T Harish Rao in the ongoing Budget Session of the Telangana Assembly, Bhatti said the Congress government had cleared three Dearness Allowances (DA) left unpaid by the BRS. Taking a dig at his predecessors, he said, “Government employees used to get their salaries on the 15th of every month. Now they get it on the 1st.”
He accused the BRS of raising the retirement age of employees purely to avoid paying retirement benefits. “The retirement age was raised from 58 to 61 years, and for Class IV employees from 60 to 61 years. This was done to delay the burden of clearing retirement dues,” Bhatti said, adding that the decision had left the present government with the liability of settling benefits for 17,000 additional employees.
On the broader financial inheritance from the BRS, Bhatti said the previous government had left behind arrears of Rs 40,150 crore, a figure he said that was detailed in a White Paper tabled in the Assembly. Of this, Rs 4,575 crore were pending dues owed directly to employees.
Since coming to power, the Congress government has been paying Rs 700 crore every month to clear these dues and has so far settled approximately Rs 6,146 crore. He said the government was also considering raising the monthly payment to Rs 1,000 crore to speed up the process.
On other employee-related measures, Bhatti said the government had introduced cashless medical treatment cards for employees, something, he pointedly noted, that employee unions had been demanding for nearly a decade under the BRS without success. He added that in the event of the accidental death of a government employee, the family is now entitled to an insurance payout of Rs 1.20 crore.
On the pending Pay Revision Commission (PRC) report, Bhatti said a decision on implementation would be taken once the report is received. He also acknowledged that four DAs remain pending, and said a policy decision on those would follow.
“The BRS government created financial destruction, weakened systems and left the state in a condition where even paying salaries became difficult,” Bhatti alleged, contrasting it with what he described as an open-door policy under the current government, where employee union leaders have been given the freedom to meet the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and ministers at any time.
Harish Rao seeks answers, BRS walks out
Earlier in the session, Harish Rao had sought details on retirement benefits being paid to government employees, accusing Bhatti of deflecting the question. “When I asked the Finance Minister about pending arrears, he went on to talk about the previous government. When you have been in power for two and a half years, why keep questioning the previous government?” he said.
The Siddipet MLA maintained that during the nine years of BRS rule, over 87,000 government employees retired and all received their benefits on time. Unsatisfied with the government’s response, the BRS subsequently walked out of the Assembly.
