amaravati:
Marathon talks between incendiary workers and the government of Andhra Pradesh ended on a fruitful note late Saturday night, after the former withdrew their calls for an indefinite strike.
Thousands of government officials and teachers of Andhra Pradesh marched through the streets of Vijayawada city on Thursday in protest at the recent pay review. They had threatened an indefinite strike from midnight Sunday.
The government agreed to the workers’ demands, agreeing to increase certain benefits, including the housing allowance (HRA), as well as implement a pay review every five years.
The government committee, made up of ministers and others, spent more than seven hours in talks with the Combating Wage Review Committee on Saturday, a follow-up to the seven-hour talks late Friday night.
The government said there would be no change to the 23 percent gear it announced last month. Also, there would be no immediate adjustment of the provisional compensation costs for the period from July 1, 2019 to March 30, 2020.
The amount would be adjusted in the employees’ retirement benefits.
At a press conference at the end of the talks, government adviser (public affairs) SRK Reddy said talks with workers’ leaders ended fruitfully as the government agreed to review the HRA plates based on population (from a location) .
Government employees in all district headquarters would now receive an HRA of 16 percent. The staff of the state secretariat and department heads, who moved from Hyderabad after the state split, would receive an HRA of 24 percent until June 2024. However, this is six percent less than what they’ve gotten so far.
“The revised HRA plates will come into effect from January this year. Similarly, retired workers in the 70-74 age group will receive an additional 7 percent pension and those in the 75-79 age group 12 percent.” announced Reddy.
The City Compensation Allowance that was abolished on January 17, wage review orders would now be reinstated.
The government also agreed to set up its own wage review committee every five years, in line with workers’ demand.
The government had previously said it would abolish the People’s Republic of China and approve the recommendations of the Central Wage Commission once every 10 years, a move vehemently opposed by workers.