Within three months, APSRTC employees will become Govt employees

Amaravati: The Cabinet approved the proposal for merging the APSRTC employees into the Government, by creating Public Transportation Department. All the regular employees of the APSRTC to be considered as regular and the new pay scales will be given as per the applicable Pay Revision Commission recommendations. The temporary employees would be treated as temporary employees in the government, informed the minister for Transport and I&PR Perni Nani in a press conference after concluding the cabinet meeting at Secretariat on Wednesday.

He further informed that at more than 52,000 employees will get benefited with this decision. He said that the cabinet approved the report of the expert committee on APSRTC headed by former IPS officer C Anjaneya Reddy. He said that the CM ordered the officials of Transport, Finance, Law, GAD to finalize the merger within three months.

The RTC employees retirement age also will be increased from present 58 years to 60 years. Government will create an independent Bus Charges Regulation Commission for controlling the bus charges.

On the other hand, the state cabinet has passed the new AP Sand Policy, 2019. The public will get the sand at Rs 375 per ton. The transportation charges will be collected at Rs 4.90 per km, if the distance is more than 10 kms per ton. If the distance is below 10 km, then a uniform rate of Rs 500 will be charged. Sand will be provided by the government at the door steps of the consumers. No individual will be allowed for excavation or maintain stock points in the state. Only the AP Mineral Development Corporation is authorized for both excavation, maintaining stock points and sales of the sand in the state. The farmers who hold Patta lands could sell the excavation rights to the APMDC. It will give Rs 60 per Cubic mtr to the farmers. Sand export to other states strictly prohibited.

Cabinet also approved extension of ban on Maoists for One more year. It approved the decision to increase the salaries of ASHA workers from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000. Salary of ASHA workers had been increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 in 2018 in the previous government. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered to hike the salary of ASHA workers to Rs10,000 from Rs3,000.

Other decisions of the cabinet:

1. YSR Pellikanuka to be implemented from Srirama Navami

2. Auto rickshaw and own cab drivers will get Rs 10,000 per annum from this September last week. Enrolment will be accepted from September 10 onwards.

3. YSR Kreeda Protsahakalu to be given for national level winners. 162 sports persons applied till now

4. 5 acr land allocated to DRDO to establish Rocket Tracking system at Sangameswaram at Nagayalanka in Krishna District

5. CM has to write a letter to PM requesting not to change the name of Andhra Bank, even though the union government merge the bank with other bank

6. Land allotted to Hindustan Petroleums at Chittoor and Kadapa

7. The number of board members in the TTD has increased from 16 to 25