Andhra Pradesh staff hold lunch-hour protests over pending dues
AP employees, teachers, and pensioners held lunch-hour protests demanding resolution of pending financial benefits and arrears.
Government employees, teachers, and pensioners across Andhra Pradesh observed a lunch-hour protest on Thursday as part of the ongoing 'Demands Day' agitation. The demonstrations were held at district and divisional offices as well as at the offices of Heads of Department, following a call from the Andhra Pradesh JAC Amaravati State Committee.
Union leaders urged the state government to initiate immediate talks and present a clear, time-bound plan to address the outstanding issues. They cautioned that if no action is taken, employees may be forced to intensify their protest.
APJAC Amaravati State Chairman Bopparaju Venkateswarlu and Secretary General Palisetti Damodara Rao noted that the response on the third day of the protest was encouraging, with large numbers of participants raising slogans such as "Pay our dues and provide us our rights."
The leaders highlighted that several demands have remained unresolved for a long time, including Dearness Allowance arrears, benefits linked to the Pay Revision Commission, pending bills worth thousands of crores, surrender leave payments, and gratuity and leave encashment dues for retired and deceased employees.
They also pointed out that some employees and pensioners have died without receiving their dues, and in certain cases, families of deceased pensioners could not be traced. Even funeral expenses for deceased employees have sometimes been paid by senior officials out of their own pockets, they claimed.
Stating that employees have cooperated with the government for the past two and a half years despite non-payment of legitimate benefits, the leaders said patience is wearing thin. They also questioned the argument that state revenues would be insufficient to meet employee demands.