Hyderabad: Police detained Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) deputy floor leader Harish Rao in Hanumakonda on Thursday, August 27, while he was participating in the Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers’ (TNGO) protest in front of the collectorate.
Former minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, former MLA Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar and other BRS leaders were also detained and taken to the Hanumakonda Subedari Police Station.
A huge crowd gathered at the collectorate as BRS leaders clashed with the police and raised slogans of “CM down down”. Vehicle movement was also disturbed in the area, blocking Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) buses and other commuters.
Harish Rao was seen grabbing onto a tree before being dragged away.
In a press release, Harish Rao stated that before the elections, Congress had made “grand promises” to convert Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) employees to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
“Even though it has been almost three years since the government came to power, there has been no abolition of the CPS, no salvation for the Pay Revision Commission (PRC),” he said.
“During K Chandrashekar Rao’s government, we introduced the Employee Health Scheme (EHS) with just a 1 per cent contribution for the health and safety of employees. But after the Congress government came to power, it increased it to 1.5 per cent. If both husband and wife are employees, they are cutting it for both of them,” he said.
“When the father of retired headmaster Khaja Moinuddin in Siddipet had a heart attack, no matter which hospital he went to, he was sent back because there was no EHS. If the bill was Rs 11 lakh at a private hospital, I had to talk to the hospital management myself and negotiate a reduction of two to three lakhs,” he said.
Harish Rao claimed that the EHS scheme is not being implemented as the government has not reached any agreement with the hospitals. He said the prices quoted by the government are not affordable for hospitals, which is why they are reluctant to implement the scheme.
“By what right has the Congress government been deducting money from employees’ salaries for the last four months, without even reaching an agreement with the hospitals?” he said.
He also criticised the government over pending Dearness Allowances (DA), saying Telangana was the only state with six pending DAs.
“Revanth Reddy has thrown the state into chaos and brought all sections of society onto the road. SC, ST, and BC children took to the streets for fee reimbursement, polytechnic students for government order (GO) 97 and the unemployed demanded the implementation of the job calendar. Model school teachers came to me; 40 model school teachers have died, and their families have not received gratuity so far,” Harish Rao said.
Harish Rao placed under house arrest
Earlier in the day, Harish Rao was placed under house arrest at his Kokapet residence in Hyderabad ahead of his visit to Warangal to meet students of Government Polytechnic College and extend solidarity to their agitation for withdrawal of GO 97 for the merger of polytechnics with Young India Skills University.
However, he managed to evade police and leave for Hanumakonda. From there, he was to proceed to the Government Polytechnic College in Warangal. However, police detained him.
(With inputs from IANS.)
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