*YSRCP condemns police crackdown on Secretariat employees*

Tadepalli, Sept 27: YSRCP SC Cell State President and former MLA T.J.R. Sudhakar Babu strongly condemned the coalition government’s crackdown on village and ward secretariat employees who peacefully gathered at Dharna Chowk to press for their legitimate demands.

Speaking at the YSRCP central office, he demanded the unconditional release of all detained employees. He criticised the police for resorting to a lathi-charge, dragging employees onto roads and detaining women in police stations.

Sudhakar Babu said the employees’ demands, including promotions and two pending increments, were reasonable. Instead of resolving them through talks, the government was subjecting them to harassment, excessive workload and denial of holidays.

He alleged that the government had weakened the Secretariat system introduced by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to realise Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj. The system had delivered 540 government services at people’s doorsteps. Employees who risked their lives as frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic were now being humiliated, he said.

He criticised the decision to reorganise 15,004 secretariats into 7,715 groups and alleged that the government was planning to remove nearly 30,000 employees.

Sudhakar Babu said the police had changed from protectors into oppressors under Chandrababu Naidu. He demanded suo motu cases against Chandrababu Naidu, Nara Lokesh and senior police officers, holding them responsible for the death of Dalit leader Kakumanu Rajasekhar following the police action against YSRCP workers protesting DSC irregularities.

He also condemned attempts to open rowdy sheets against MLCs Talasila Raghuram and Lella Appi Reddy.