PNS|Vijayawada
Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development Dr Audimulapu Suresh has assured the Amaravati sanitation workers of paying the pending wages as early as possible. He said that he would discuss the matter with Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Commissioner Vivek Yadav. He also responded positively to the workers’ problems and promised to resolve them.
As the CRDA has not paid wages to the Capital Amaravati sanitation workers for the past four months, they are conducting various kinds of protests with the support of the Capital Area Sanitation Workers’ Association, affiliated with CITU.
The association’s honorary president M Ravi, secretary Rachuri Venu and CITU secretary M Bhagya Raju, along with Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) MLC KS Lakshmana Rao and others, met Minister Adimulapu Suresh and submitted a representation at his camp office in Vijayawada on Thursday.
MLC Lakshmana Rao explained the problems being faced by the workers and how they were afraid of being sacked. Also, CRDA does not pay wages as per government orders. They also raised the issue of community pensions, which have been stopped. The leaders urged the minister to allocate funds in the coming budget to pay wages to the workers. “The CRDA officials do not maintain PF accounts or ESI cards,” they complained to the minister.
After listening to all the issues of the CRDA sanitation workers, the minister said that he would discuss the issues with Commissioner Vivek Yadav and would take a decision in favour of the workers. He said that the pending wages would be paid soon, and that the wages of the sanitation workers would be reviewed.
Meanwhile, Lakshmana Rao requested minister Suresh to include the sanitation workers in the APCOS. “If they lose their jobs, their families will end up on the road,” he said. Capital Amaravati Sanitation Workers’ Association leaders B Bujji Bhulakshmi, N Divya and Kanakamma were present.
