Thousands of employees working under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in Telangana have resorted to strikes. Employees from ten different departments under SSA have been struggling for their rightful benefits for years, and now they are on strike. Dr. B. Keshavulu, Chairman of the Telangana Intellectuals Association, criticized the government for its delayed response to this issue. He recalled that when the Congress was in opposition, the current Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy, had visited the employees’ protest camps and promised to resolve all issues within 100 days if Congress came to power. However, despite completing a year in office, the government has made no significant progress in resolving these problems.
Minimum Wages, Job Security, Retirement Benefits
Dr. Keshavulu expressed his anguish over the plight of SSA employees, who have been compelled to strike for their rightful demands. He highlighted the following key issues:Employees are not receiving minimum wages or job security.Basic benefits like paid leave, maternity leave, and other regular provisions are not being implemented fully.Essential benefits like PF (Provident Fund), ESI (Employee State Insurance), health cards, and accident insurance are completely absent.
Despite working tirelessly for over a decade to uplift underprivileged children and improve the educational system, these employees remain unregularized. Dr. Keshavulu pointed out that states like Manipur, Punjab, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, and Himachal Pradesh have already regularized SSA employees, and even neighboring Andhra Pradesh is paying basic salaries. In contrast, Telangana fails to provide even minimum wages.
Dr. Keshavulu demanded:
- The merger of SSA with the education department.
- Regularization of all employees.
- Implementation of equal pay for equal work and determination of basic pay.
- Provision of ESI, PF, and other medical and safety benefits.
Dr Keshavulu MD urged the government to take immediate action to address these demands and provide the employees with the security and dignity they deserve.
