Jagan demands judicial probe into lathi-charge on secretariat staff

YSR Congress Party president and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday condemned the police lathi-charge on village and ward secretariat employees during their protest in Vijayawada and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.

In a statement on X, Mr. Jagan alleged that the police used force against employees, including women, who were seeking resolution of their service-related demands. He questioned the government’s decision to prevent the employees from holding a dharna instead of engaging in talks with them.

Mr. Jagan demanded that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu order a judicial inquiry into the police action, apologise to the employees and withdraw the suspensions imposed on them.

He alleged that the government had failed to fulfil its commitments on Interim Relief (IR), the Pay Revision Commission (PRC), five pending instalments of Dearness Allowance (DA) and surrender leave. He also claimed that the employees’ pending dues amounted to nearly ₹40,000 crore.

The former Chief Minister accused the coalition government of weakening the village and ward secretariat system introduced during the YSRCP government. He said the system was designed to provide more than 540 government services at the village and ward level and alleged that rationalisation of the secretariats had put around 30,000 permanent jobs at risk.

Mr. Jagan also alleged that the workload earlier handled by village and ward volunteers had been shifted to secretariat employees, placing them under excessive pressure. He claimed that nearly 100 employees had died over the past two-and-a-half years due to stress and suicides.

He said the government should address the employees’ grievances through discussions rather than prevent them from exercising their right to protest.

Mr. Jagan assured village and ward secretariat employees that if the YSRCP returned to power, his government would strengthen the secretariat system and take measures to improve service delivery. He said the remaining two-and-a-half years of the present government’s term would pass quickly and promised to address the employees’ grievances under a future YSRCP government.