'Anomalies panel' to go into PRC scales

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 23. An ``Anomalies Committee'' will be constituted to go into anomalies and lacunae found in the 1999 Pay Revision Commission scales, enforced for the past one year, the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, announced at a meeting of APNGOs Association here today.

Leaders of service organisations such as the Telangana Non- Gazetted Officers Union and the A.P. Secretariat Employees' Coordination Committee Class IV employees expressed their solidarity with the stand taken by APNGOs to fully back the Chief Minister in his efforts to take the State forward and make it a role-model.

The Chief Minister also announced his decision to allow ``stagnation increments'' to settle the dispute between the Cooperation and Panchayat Raj staff and to positively react on the demand to fill the 258 assistant commercial tax officer vacancies, existing now, through promotion of lower staff, now that there was a ban on direct recruitment.

The Chief Minister said he would have talks with the NGO leaders once a month to sort out the outstanding issues, and wanted the staff to learn to use computers. Amidst applause from the large gathering of NGOs, who thronged the venue, the Chief Minister said the recommendations of the Anomalies Committee would be accepted and acted upon. Regarding 13 other demands listed in the memorandum submitted to him, he said that they would be referred to the Chief Secretary, Mr. P. V. Rao. The Ministers - Mr. T. Devender Goud and Mr. M. Venkateswara Rao - were also present.

The president of the APNGOs, Mr. G. Purnachandra Rao, said that there were several complaints about corruption, and this evil should be stamped out using the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Mr. Rao said the Association would not come in the way if stringent action was taken against the ``guilty'' but at the same time, he pleaded that ACB should not unnecessarily harass the staff, especially lower-rung, and that suspension in such cases should not exceed two years.

``What about corruption among politicians?'' he asked, while the general secretary, Mr. Sudhakar Prasad, in his report, contended that corruption was a ``universal phenomenon''. Mr. Purnachandra Rao said there was need for the staff to remove the popular apprehension that employees, ``sitting in AC rooms and comforts,'' were not helpful, and asked the employees to ``obey people as they were the true gods being paymasters for everybody''.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu recalled his ``track record'' of being a good friend of the staff, mentioned how he released three DA instalments at a time recently, and sought cooperation for placing the State on the world map in development which would not be difficult to achieve. He said he had improved finances of the State from a stage when it was not able to pay even salaries to the staff. In the process, he was forced to take some ``hard decisions'' such as increase in subsidised rice and electricity tariff. Mr. Naidu, however, did not react to the plea for reduction of electricity tariff hike made in the general secretary's report.

The State was still having many troubles, including a cut of Rs. 3,683 crores under the 11th Finance Commission recommendations, and he was not ``getting sleep because of these problems.`` However, he was optimistic. Anything could be achieved provided there was hard work. I am working for 18 hours a day and the staff also should do the same, Mr. Naidu said, referring to the suggestion made by Mr. Purnachandra Rao earlier that it was not enough for the Chief Minister to work for so much time a day. He should make the staff also work with equal commitment.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Next     : TDP draws up plan to overhaul district units