Divide & Rule: Jagan Playing Mind Game With Employees

Advisor to the Andhra Pradesh government Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said that it was not fair on the part of the state employees to change their stance on the PRC frequently. In the last meeting, the employees made it clear that fitment was the more important issue to be decided but are now stressing on the GOs and old salaries.

In connection with the orders that the government staff should come back to work, minister Botsa Satyanarayana said that it would be better if the employees come for discussion. Else, the law would take its own course, he added, which is being considered as a veiled threat by the employees.

False Information

The three-member sub-committee, comprising ministers, appointed to find an amicable solution to the standoff between the AP government and the employees seems to increasing the gap between both the parties rather than bridging it, felt leaders of recognized employee unions. They claimed that they had gone for the discussions but that the ministers were publicizing negative information that the employees had not come to them for parleys. They alleged that the government was adopting double standards with regard to the PRC.

They put forward three demands which included payment of old salary for the month of January, withdrawal of the three GOs issued in connection with the PRC and also make public the Ashutosh Mishra Committee report and said that they would sit for the discussion only if their demands were met. To this, the government made it clear that they would deposit only the revised salaries but not the old payments. The employees would know whether their pay had increased or not only when the new salaries are deposited, the ministers explained.

The employees also made it clear that the government was trying to dilute the employees’ agitation by trying to delay the salaries of the employees but that it would not happen.

Sajjala on “lacking maturity”

Further, Sajjala’s statement that employees “lacked maturity” irked the government staff who said that the government was playing a mind game with them by dividing the employees into small groups and also pitching the government staff against each other.

To avoid differences among themselves, the state employees formed PRC Sadhana Samiti drawing leaders from all the employee unions and moved forward for the last four days.

Divide and rule

However, the employees now stand divided with the teachers union PRTU alleging that the leaders of the bigger unions like Andhra Pradesh JAC and AP JAC-Amaravati were having a secret agenda and hence, were not coming to the discussion table even when invited by the ministers, though they had already taken part in the parleys for nearly a dozen times.

Further, the PRTU leaders demanded that the AP JAC and AP JAC-Amaravati leaders tender apology for treating other employee unions in a trivial manner by calling them “Daarina poye daanayya groups”.

“It is only through discussion that issues could be resolved. Why are you remaining adamant? We have met the ministers’ sub-committee and put forward all our issues. The ministers expressed readiness to look into our demands and take the same to the notice of the CM,” they said.

Oppn sees a conspiracy

Meanwhile, the opposition parties alleged that the government was hatching a conspiracy to divide the employees so as to dilute the strike planned by them from February 6 midnight. The employees had already launched relay hunger strikes in several places across the state. The employees also called for ‘Chalo Vijayawada’ on February 3.

The opposition parties also charged the government with delaying the PRC announcement and tricking the employees by increasing the IR to 27% which made the staff feel that their fitment would be more but in the end, fooled them by announcing a lesser percentage.

Initially, the discussions were held with a different set of employee union leaders considering that they were representing all the 13 lakh staff in the state but now, they are inviting different groups and speaking with them which clearly shows that they have adopted the ‘divide and rule’ policy, the opposition parties said.

At the same time, they are also trying to threaten and insult the employee association leaders with whom they had held discussions so far. Why did the government not put forward the Ashutosh Mishra committee’s report before the employees when it was prepared for them itself, asked the opposition leaders. They also took exception to Sajjala dealing with the issue even when he is in no way concerned with the employees.

The government seems to have succeeded in creating confusion over the PRC issue as different groups of employee unions have their own stance while the government is trying to present a completely separate narrative.