Government employees and Teachers form an important part of the election process. They are involved in the polling and there are instances they worked for a party, especially in getting the votes of the aged and disabled who find it difficult to vote.
It was far worse in Paper Ballot days and is better these days.
They often make or break Governments. Government Employees and Teachers do not get along well with Telugu Desam Party. This is because Chandrababu is known to be very strict about attendance and work before 2004.
Teachers and Doctors especially in those days used to skip their offices and work in Private. But Naidu would not allow that.
In the 2004 election, they played a crucial role in the victory of YS Rajasekhara Reddy. After coming to power, YSR relaxed all the rules and made life easy for them.
So, they were with YSR in 2009 too. In the 2014 election, they worked for the YSR Congress but then, the special conditions prevailing due to the Bifurcation ensured TDP victory.
Chandrababu Naidu tried to appease this class by giving 43% fitment with ten months of Arrears. All their demands including the PRC were met.
But then cut to 2019, they decided to help YSR Congress and we have seen Jagan coming to power.
However, what happened later shocked them to the core. Jagan gave ‘belt treatment’ to the Government Employees and Teachers..
In the fifty-nine months so far, they did not get their salary on 1st at least for a month. There were months where they missed salaries for the first twenty days.
Everything got messed up – their EMIs, Credit Card Bills, etc.
The Government deducts PF and Income Tax from the Salaries and they are not paid to the departments and are diverted to other schemes.
Teachers are also ill-treated. They have to hit the streets on the name of Chalo Vijayawada for their demands. The discontent in the Teachers is so high that the Government even tried to keep them away from Election Duties.
The situation is even worse in the case of Pensioners of Government employees. According to an estimate, the Government owes around 2.5 Lakh Rupees to each Pensioner. The DRs and DAs are pending from a long time.
In many cases, they were not paid for months. First time since Second World War, this Government even decreased the Pensions. There was a cut in the Additional Pension as well.
Clearly, all sections of the Government employees including the Pensioners and Teachers are disgruntled with the YSR Congress. Considering all this, it should be an overwhelming mandate for the Telugu Desam Party.
