No Relief From Pay Cut For May In Telangana

HYDERABAD:Telangana Chief Minister  K. Chandrashekara Rao held a review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan here on Wednesday on the State’s economic situation. He discussed the strategy to be adopted in view of the steep fall in the state’s revenue. Chief Secretary  Somesh Kumar, Principal Secretary (Finance) Sri Ramakrishna Rao, CM Principal Secretary Sri Narsing Rao and other senior officials participated in the meeting .

In the review meeting, CM KCR said that the deduction of 75 per cent in the salaries of the public representatives, 60 per cent of the All India Service officers, 50 per cent of the government employees salaries, 25 per cent of the pensioners will continue as it is in the month of May also. For outsourcing and contract workers, there will be a 10 per cent cut in their salaries in May too. This comes as a bit of a surprise as it runs contrary to the intense speculation since yesterday that the Telangana chief minister would actually revive full salaries for these categories of employees for the month of May.

But justifying his decision, KCR said that Telangana state should get Rs 12,000 Crore income every month but it fell down drastically due to the lockdown. In the month of May, the State has received only Rs 3,100 Crore, including the state’s share in the central taxes, which is Rs 982 Crore. Though the state government has given some relaxations to the lockdown guidelines, the income did not increase, KCR said.
The state government has to pay debt installments to the tune of Rs 37,400 Crore per year. These installments are to be paid every month without fail. The State has requested the centre to re-schedule the loans. But the Centre did not take any action in this regard. With this, the state has no option but to pay the installments. And the situation is not going to change much even with the enhanced FRBM Limit announced by the Centre, he said.

"If salaries of the employees and pensions were to be paid, the expenditure would be more than Rs 3,000 Crore. The entire treasury will be empty.No payment can be made nor any work be undertaken. Hence we have to adopt a proper strategy," the chief minister said. Some of the decisions taken in the meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Candrashekhara Rao pertain to the payment of loan installments promptly and Asara pension will be given to the beneficiaries and also continuation of distribution of 12 kgs of rice to the ration card holders to cope with the lockdown time.

RTC BUSES TO BE EXEMPTED FROM NIGHT CURFEW

In another significant decision, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has also decided to exempt the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) from the night curfew that is in force across the state. Also, the buses coming into the state capital from rural areas will henceforth be allowed to reach up to Jubilee Bus Station and Imlibun Bus Stations. Taxis and auto-rickshaws will be allowed upto the waiting stands of these bus stations for the convenience of the passengers. However, the ban on city buses in Hyderabad will remain in force. While maintaining that coronavirus spread hasn't seen any spurt following relaxation of some lockdown restrictions, he however cautioned the people to be vigilant and follow all the necessary precautionary measures.