HYDERABAD: Anticipating non-payment of salaries to government
employees in October, which has two major festivals Dasara and
Deepavali, people in various parts of Telangana are thinking of
contributing their mite with provisions and other essential services
without demanding money.
Several
merchants have come forward to supply clothes to employees’ families for
free or on credit. From doctors to traders and from� cloth merchants to
washermen everyone is pledging support to� employees as a statement of
their participation in the movement.
“Several
employees purchase essential commodities from my shop every month. They
will not be able to pay for the goods this month but we are prepared to
supply essential commodities free. We will supply some commodities free
and some on credit,” said L Satyam, a wholesaler� in the Gunj area of
Karimnagar town. The Karimnagar Chamber of Commerce, along with the BJP,
has promised to supply the required goods to employees who are taking
part in the Sakala Janula Samme in case their salaries are delayed or
not paid.
While leaders at the district
level are planning to distribute essential commodities by an
arrangement with traders, a few employees have made arrangements with
their local shopkeepers to obtain groceries on credit. “I asked a
shopkeeper in my locality to lend me commodities and he readily agreed,”
said Yadaiah, an office subordinate in Mahaboobnagar town. If employees
abstained from their duties for some more days, it would not be long
before Telangana state was formed, he said. Adilabad Zilla Rajaka
Sangham (washermen’s association) has offered to wash the clothes of
employees’ family members for free during October in case the government
does not pay the salaries in time. Sangham president Ch Dattu said they
were abstaining from work on a single day in each village to express
their support for the Samme. Washermen observed bandh at Kapri village
in Jainak mandal in Adilabad district on Saturday. Even private doctors
have decided to support the stir and the Adilabad chapter of Indian
Medical Association president Dr M Dattu declared that a private
hospital in each division would provide free service to employees and
their family members who fall ill.Employees, for their part, are cutting
the coat according to the cloth. M Vijaya Lakshmi, a teacher from
Hanamkonda, said that her family decided not to buy clothes for the
festival season.
“Batukamma and Dasara
are not very expensive festivals as we have decided not to purchase new
clothes this year. For other expenses, we have made alternative
arrangements in advance,” she said.
N
Veeranjaneyulu, a typist in Warangal, said he had already informed his
chit fund manager and grocer that he would not be able to pay them in
time due to uncertainty over salary next month and they agreed to wait
till November for payments.
While
employees of higher grade are not tensed up over salary delay, it is the
lower-rung employees who are likely to feel the pinch.
However,
they are expressing fears that though they can manage for one month
without timely payment of salary, it will become difficult if the strike
continues indefinitely. “I might withdraw some money from my savings to
meet the monthly expenses including clothes and school fees of my
children,” said Y Ajith Shetty, a computer operator from Nizamabad
district.
Some cloth merchants from
Nizamabad district have promised to provide clothes to the striking
employees on credit for the festival season.
An
office subordinate in the excise department, N Yadamma said that though
the employees were fearing disciplinary action, they were given an
assurance by their unions. Some employees also fear that if they back
out from the strike at this juncture, when the T movement has reached
its peak, the future of their children will be ruined. “If necessary, I
will borrow money from private finance companies and other sources,”
said Prasada Rao, a junior assistant in the animal husbandry department
in Nalgonda.
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