AP govt staff postpone protest rally in Vijayawada

Members of several organisations including Federation of Andhra Pradesh Teachers' Organisation (FAPTO) and AP Teachers' Association are on the warpath over the last few months over breach of promise by the government to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

Visakhapatnam: Nearly six lakh government employees in Andhra Pradesh have announced postponement of Vijayawada Chalo rally and millennium march and the call to lay siege to Chief Minister's Camp Office at Tadepalli to press for abolition of Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to September 11 from September 1 following arrest of several members and denial of police permission.

Members of several organisations including Federation of Andhra Pradesh Teachers' Organisation (FAPTO) and AP Teachers' Association are on the warpath over the last few months over breach of promise by the government to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Finding the financial implications very tough to absorb for the cash-starved State, the government set up a six-member committee comprising Finance Minister Bugganna Rajendranath and Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana to find out alternatives to satisfy the employees. The panel recently suggested implementation of Guaranteed Pension Scheme (GPS) with the promise of assured benefit post-retirement.

However, after denial of permission for Vijayawada under the pretext of prohibitory orders, several members of AP CPS Employees' Association (APCPSEA) were arrested in various districts under Sections 143, 342, 427, 452 read with 120 and 511of IPC.

In a statement, APCPSEA State general secretary K Pardhasaradhi said due to prevailing situation, they have been constrained to postpone their protest to September 11. He said they had been staging protests peacefully and sought permission from the police to hold the rally as per law.

For the past few days, several lodges and hotels were searched by the police and unofficial orders were issued to shut down hotels and kiosks in and around Vijayawada to prevent the employees from reaching the State capital. Employees say the government did not want to take any chance as they could reach Vijayawada in disguise in large numbers in the past when they undertook a protest march to demand implementation of Pay Revision Commission recommendation.

AP Secretariat Employees' Association president Kakarla Venkatram Reddy said the Chief Minister himself had promised after coming to power that the government will abolish CPS and restore OPS and requested him to intervene and keep his promise.