The first Cabinet meeting of the Jaganmohan Reddy government had a marathon session for over five and a half hours. They gave approvals for major election promises made by Mr Reddy during his walkathon and election campaign. The Cabinet approved 27 per cent interim relief to the employees. This means an additional financial burden of Rs. 9,000 crore annually on the state which is already under heavy financial stress. The hiked IR will be paid to employees from July 2018 with retrospective effect.
The Cabinet has also given its approval for the merger of the AP State Road Transport Corporation with the government. But this has to pass through many procedures. The Cabinet decided to set up a committee to facilitate the merger process by formulating necessary guidelines.
The Cabinet had also approved the hike in social pensions to Rs. 2250 per month and cancellation of the Contributory Pension Scheme fulfilling a long-standing demand of the employees. Approval is given to hike in salaries of Asha workers from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 10,000 per month. The community health workers under tribal welfare will get a salary hike from Rs. 400 to Rs. 4000.
