Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], September 7 (ANI): Employees of the ‘Swarna Grama’ and ‘Swarna Ward Sachivalayam’ schemes intensified their three-day-long protest; demanding the fulfilment of their demands, they staged a sit-in on the main road near the RTC complex, completely blocking traffic.

Speaking to ANI, Visakhapatnam RDO Dileep Chakravrthy said, “Today, the Swarna Grama and Swarna Ward Sachivalayam employees are staging a dharna at the Dwaraka Nagar Complex Junction.

They have put forward several demands, including career advancement, an automatic advancement scheme, Joint Staff Council membership, and the granting of annual increments. All these issues need to be verified, and decisions must be taken by the government.”

Sachivalayam employee, Sheikh Mahaboob, said, “Since the last three days, we have been doing a hunger strike, but there is no proper response from the government. As we have been doing this for three days, no public representative has come here to address our issues.

“Now, we have continued our hunger strike to the peak level, and we have reached the roads regarding these issues to be resolved as soon as possible. We kindly request that the government kindly provide us with whatever demands we are asking for. Kindly provide us with the demands- whatever demands we are asking you—it’s not a big deal for you. Because, like, whichever is the AAS [Automatic Advancement Scheme], it should be given to every government employee after the completion of 6 years. But there is no proper response from the government,” he added.

Convener in Uttarandhra for Grama Ward, Swarna Ward and Swarna Grama Employees Association, Kona Venkata Satyanarayana said, “We, the STW government employees, are gathered here to protest regarding our issues. We are very clear that the government needs to resolve all our issues and the set of demands we have already submitted to the government, respected CM Sir, and respected Deputy CM. As government employees, we always intend to resolve our issues—we are not against the government. So, respected Sir, please resolve our issues and clear all our demands as soon as possible. We are here to protest.”

One of the Jyothsna Sachivalayam employees said, “We are the 2019 government-recruited Sachivalayam employees. Our main demands are. We don’t have any promotion channels. Due to the probation declaration getting delayed by 9 months, we lost our salary; we want our 9-month arrears. Another issue is that a Sachivalayam employee appointed in 2019 remains a Sachivalayam Ward Secretary even in 2026. We have no promotion channel at all. So, we request you to please provide a basic pay of Rs 30,000, which is the minimum basic need in today’s society.” (ANI)