Harish blasts Congress on Employee woes, Sridhar Babu fires back

In a confrontation during Zero Hour in the Telangana Assembly on Monday, BRS MLA and former minister T. Harish Rao launched a scathing attack on the Congress government for failing to honor key commitments to government employees after two years in power. Legislative Affairs Minister Sridhar Babu countered sharply, dismissing Rao's remarks as "outrageous" and akin to "incantations from evil scriptures," while assuring that all petitions raised would be duly considered.

Harish Rao highlighted the distress among employees, accusing the government of excessive delays in disbursing retirement benefits, implementing the Pay Revision Commission (PRC), and reinstating the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). 

He reminded the Assembly that the Congress had promised prompt action on PRC, release of overdue Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears, and OPS restoration in their manifesto. "None of these have been met despite two years passing. Employees are being misled," Rao stated, urging Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka to release outstanding payments immediately to both serving and retired staff.

Emphasizing employees' crucial role in governance, Rao warned that undue stress on them could derail government operations and welfare schemes. He pointed out that Telangana faces a unique crisis with six DAs pending and PRC unimplemented. Recalling the BRS regime's achievements, Rao noted they had enacted PRCs of 43% and 39%, and introduced the Employees Health Scheme (EHS) via government order. "The Congress pledged EHS but failed to act," he charged.

In response, Sridhar Babu rebuked Rao's allegations as baseless and inflammatory, likening them to harmful chants. Sridhar Babu made a mention of how employees were made to wait till 20th of every month for their salaries. He said the Congress government was trying to bring a proper system in place for timely disbursal of employees GPF, retirement benefits.

He also stressed the government's commitment to addressing Zero Hour issues but provided no specific timelines or rebuttals to the claims raised.

The exchange underscored ongoing tensions between BRS and Congress over employee welfare, with calls for swift action amid growing discontent.