By IANS,
Hyderabad : The ongoing movement for a separate Telangana state has not only affected normal life in the region and almost paralysed the administration, but has also delayed the February salaries of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, his cabinet colleagues and other state officials.
The chief minister, 39 ministers, top bureaucrats and other government employees in the state secretariat and other offices did not receive their salaries on the first day of March.
Due to the ongoing non-cooperation movement by government employees in Telangana demanding separate statehood for the region, the pay bills could not be prepared, as a result of which salaries were not paid Tuesday.
With Wednesday being a holiday on account of Mahashivratri, employees not participating in the non-cooperation movement will get their salaries only on Thursday, official sources said.
However, a majority of about 300,000 employees participating in the movement since Feb 17 are not likely to get their salaries as the government has decided to impose a “no work no pay” rule.
Though the employees are marking their attendance every day, they are not working.
They are pressing for the introduction of a bill in parliament for carving out a separate Telangana state.
The general administration department will seek individual declarations from employees about the period they have worked in February. The payments are likely to be made after scrutinising the declarations.
Government employees in Telangana are participating in the non-cooperation movement on a call given by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC), an apex body of political parties fighting for a separate Telangana state.
Leaders of Telangana employees have said they would not be deterred by the non-payment of salaries and would continue their movement. They have even threatened to go on an indefinite strike from March 5 to force the central government to make a clear-cut announcement on the formation of Telangana.
The region, which comprises 10 districts including Hyderabad, observed a two-day shutdown last week and a 12-hour rail blockade Tuesday.
The movement is likely to further intensify with the JAC calling for a “million march to Hyderabad” March 10.