KCR bonanza to state government staff

The 9.17 lakh employees of the Telangana state government including those who are hired under various other categories are over the moon ever since Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced a fitment of 30% on their basic pay and enhancement in their retirement age from 58 to 61 while making a statement on the implementation of the state’s first Pay Revision Commission in the Assembly earlier this week. But on the flip side, the unemployed youth are upset as the chief minister had nothing to offer to them—neither the promise of hastening recruitment for government jobs nor announcing any unemployment allowance.

They complain that though they were the bulwark of the Telangana movement, the chief minister has ignored them and, rubbing salt into their wounds, praised the employees’ role in the formation of the state. 
The chief minister, after taking his own time, made the announcement on the Pay Revision Commission, obviously with an eye on the 2023 Assembly elections. But the unemployed got the short end of the stick. The government, except for saying in the past that it would fill 50,000 posts soon, has done precious little in that direction. Ironically, the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC), which handles recruitment for government posts, is down in the dumps. Even its acting chairman D Krishna Reddy has retired recently, leaving only one member, Prof Sailu Chinta, as against the full complement of 11 members including the chairman. Prof Chinta too will demit office in October. 

This apart, a basic question is being raised: If the chief minister can declare fitment, why should there be a Pay Revision Commission in the first place? The PRC, which was commissioned in 2018, made an elaborate exercise and recommended 7.5% fitment. But the chief minister made the unilateral decision of hiking it to 30%, despite the fact that it would dent the exchequer by  Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000 crore per annum. It is now up to KCR to find the money to deliver the goodies.