The government seems set to finally deliver long-awaited relief to employees, teachers, and pensioners who have been awaiting the new Pay Revision Commission (PRC) for nearly two years. Though the PRC may not be formally announced before the end of 2025, strong indications suggest that employees could receive positive news early in the New Year.

According to sources, the government is inclined to offer a fitment increase of around 20%, which is significantly lower than what employees’ and teachers’ unions have demanded. Before making any announcement, the government plans to hold talks with major employee and teacher unions to ensure they do not stage protests over a lower-than-expected fitment.

Fitment may be below 30%

Given the State’s current financial situation, the government is not in a position to implement the PRC in full. Both the PRC revisions and pending DA arrears demand significant resources. Although the PRC Committee submitted its report three to four months ago, the government has been cautious about accepting it. Once the report is officially acknowledged, implementation becomes inevitable, and employee unions are expected to intensify their demands.

During the report preparation, the committee conducted several rounds of consultations with various employee, teacher, and pensioner unions. While some unions demanded 50% fitment, others sought 51%, and some insisted that anything below 30% would be unacceptable. However, implementing a 51% fitment would impose an annual burden of ₹12,750 crore, which the government says it simply cannot afford at the moment.

With nearly 15 lakh employees, teachers and pensioners in the state, even a 1% fitment hike costs around ₹250–300 crore annually. A 20% fitment would require about ₹5,000 crore, while 30% would push the burden to approximately ₹7,500 crore. The government believes offering a moderate percentage could reduce financial strain while still offering some relief to employees, who say they have suffered for over two-and-a-half years without PRC implementation.

Committee ready, government unresponsive

Employee leaders allege that although the PRC Committee has been ready to submit its report, the government is not inviting the committee to present it. The committee, chaired by retired IAS officer N. Sivashankar, was originally expected to submit the report within six months of its appointment. Its term expired on April 2, 2024, but was extended due to assembly and parliamentary elections.

Despite completing the report, the committee has been waiting for the government’s call. With local body elections scheduled for December, there is little chance of announcing or implementing the PRC before the election code comes into force. If the implementation does not happen before the schedule is announced, employees will have to wait until next year.

Implement PRC report: Employees JAC

Telangana Employees JAC Chairman Maram Jagadishwar demanded that the government immediately accept the PRC report and implement it without delay.

He stressed that the Congress government must fulfil the promises it made during the elections, convene a Joint Staff Council meeting, and address pending issues related to employees, teachers and pensioners. He also urged the government to implement the Employee Health Scheme (EHS) without further delay.