No employee will be retrenched: YSR

Hyderabad, Aug 2 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today sought to clear the air on GO 5 saying no employee would be retrenched as was alleged by the Opposition.

Asserting he was a man who kept his word, Dr Reddy sought to assure the staff saying ''I have a responsibility to care for you, as well as the people.'' ''We brought the APSRTC to profit. So is the case with Power and Tourism sectors. Singareni Collieries is also making profit. Is it possible to achieve this without your cooperation,'' questioned Dr Reddy.

''I cannot even dream of hurting you as you are the power that drives the wheels of administration'' Dr Reddy said in his open letter.

The government was, in fact, thinking in terms of expanding the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) by recruiting more people, he said.

Any government would be happy only when the employees who were responsible for the implementation of its schemes were happy, asserted Dr Reddy.

''He said, is of the firm belief that God will bless him and his government only when he does something good for the people and advised them not to believe in rumours and deliberate campaign against him and his government indulged by the Opposition.

The government found itself in the thick of controversy after CPI(M) State Secretary Member B V Raghavulu showed the media a purported copy of GO 5 under which, he alleged, the government proposed to retrench about 65,000 employees of the public sector Singareni Collieries and the APSRTC during the next three years in accordance with the directions of the World Bank for the sanction of structural adjustment loans.

UNI JRK SI VA KP1542