Employees say no to 12 per cent interest on pending wage

VIJAYAWADA: With the Andhra Pradesh High Court directing the State government to clear the pending wages of the government employees along with interest and the State government contemplating to knock on the doors of the Apex Court challenging the verdict, the State Government Employees Federation has decided to come in support of the government saying that they are against availing interest on pending wages.

Owing to the precarious finances following the outbreak of COVID-19, the State government has deferred the payment of 50 per cent wages of the employees for March and April (payable in April and May) and 50 percent of pensions for March.

Federation chairman K Venkatrami Reddy said that the government took the decision on deferring the wages only after consulting the employees’ unions. “As we have given our consent for the deferment of wages, we could not take interest out of it,” he said and added that they will also submit a letter to the government informing it of the same. 

Sources said Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has already given directions to the officials to pay pending wages to the employees in five instalments.