HYDERABAD: Due to bureaucratic delays, the chances of Telangana state government employees receiving increased wages under the new PRC scheme this month are low.

In March last week, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao declared a 30% fitment (increase in basic pay) with effect from April 1st. Employees were anticipating new wages on May 1st.

The modalities for enforcing the new pay scales, however, have yet to be finalized and accepted at various levels, according to officials. As a result, starting Tuesday, various departments began sending wage bills to the Treasury using the old pay scales.

Employees will most likely have to wait until June 1st to receive the new pay scales as well as the April arrears.

Last week, the finance department sent a draft file on the new PRC to the chief minister for approval, which is still pending with the CMO. The clearance of the files will take time because KCR is still in isolation after testing Covid positive on April 19th.

There are a few other issues to consider as well. The finance department must release a pay revision Government Order (GO) that specifies the amount of the raise based on current pay scales. Employees will then be asked for their suggestions and objections to any inconsistencies.

A committee on discrepancies will be established to investigate the Government Orders (GOs) and discuss employee grievances. The committee would then recommend any further changes to the Government Orders (GOs).

The updated Government Orders (GOs) will then be released later by the finance department, based on which new wages will be compensated. Following that, the various departments must send wage bills based on the latest pay scales.

Official reports say that resolving all of these procedural problems would take at least two weeks and that the new salaries will not be paid on May 1st.