Tirupati:
It is celebration time for the contract and outsourcing employees of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams as the temple management has finally agreed to implement GO No 3 in toto.
About 10,000 contract staff working in various Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams wings both at Tirumala and Tirupati will get salary hike with the management's decision to implements GO No 3. The contract employees, who had been agitating for the past 10 months in this regard, have called off their stir with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams conceding their main demands.
Leaders of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Contract Employees Association, led by its general secretary Challa Venkataiah, held several rounds of talks with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams officials on the issue on Thursday.
Finally, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams executive officer LV Subramanyam agreed to implement the GO in toto benefiting the contract and outsourcing employees. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams special grade deputy executive officer TAP Narayana on Friday formally announced the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams decision to implement the GO with retrospective effect from August this year amidst a thunderous applause by the contract and outsourcing employees who gathered in strength at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams administrative building for celebrating their victory.
The association launched a relay hunger strike on December 1 to press its demand. Later, a group of employees went on indefinite fast denouncing the 'adamant' attitude of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in conceding their just demands.
The government issued GO No 3 in Jan increasing the pay of contract staff.
Communist Party of India district secretary K Kumar Reddy and town secretary V Nagaraju, Centre of Trade Union leaders Harikrishna and Murali hailed the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams for agreeing to implement the GO.
The contract and outsourcing staff will now get a minimum pay of Rs 6,700.
Association general secretary Venkataiah said the contract employees would get a monthly salary ranging from Rs 6,700 to Rs 12,000 now depending on the nature of work.
Earlier, they used to get a salary ranging from Rs 4,700 to Rs 9,000.
Thanking the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams management for agreeing to implement the GO, he assured that the association would extend its full support to the temple management in improving pilgrim amenities on the hill shrine.