Lokesh demands state pay 20 months pending wages to APCOS employees

Lokesh demanded immediate payment of pending salaries to the contract and outsourced employees which has now been due for over 20 months. Thousands of these employees were taken out of their respective agencies after the formation of the APCOS. But they were later removed from their jobs so that those opportunities could be given to the ruling party activists, he alleged.

In a letter to Jagan here, he termed it atrocious that the government would do injustice to the outsourced employees on flimsy grounds. The agencies previously gave salaries to the outsourced and contract employees but later these agencies were cancelled. And on the pretext that the respective agencies were no longer in existence, the government stopped salaries to these employees, he said.

The TDP MLC said that the contract and outsourced employees have not been paid salaries for 20 months so far and are currently out of their jobs promised to them. Lokesh reminded the chief minister how he had promised to the employees that the system of middlemen and agencies would be removed.

Thousands of these employees in the medical and health department were given certificates as APCOS employees. Separate CFMS IDs were created for them so they would be recognized as government employees with job security. But all of that have not helped the employees with any benefits so far.

Condemning the government's indifference, the TDP leader said that the ruling YSRCP dealt another blow to these employees as their ration cards were cancelled after their names were registered in the CFMS payment system. They became ineligible for the Amma Vaadi scheme and all other benefits under the government programmes. The chief minister promised job security before elections but removed their jobs altogether after coming to power, he said. Lokesh said that over 66 employees were removed in Kakinada Government General Hospital along with 1,700 UPHC and 180 APCOS employees.

He said that the lower-level employees were now on the roads along with their families as they have not been given their salaries from APCOS for 14 months and from their agencies for six months. Around 600 employees were removed from jobs for asking for their wages, he said. The TDP MLC asked finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy to explain where the funds regarding pending salaries of the APCOS employees were diverted. He said the minister is lying about the thousands of crores of loans being brought to save the lives of people. Small employees were not given salaries for 20 months but Rs 200 crore ADs were added to the chief minister's own media as per an RTI reply, he added.