KCR hikes salary of Village Organisation Assistants to Rs 8,000

HYDERABAD: In some good news on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) has hiked the salaries of Village Organisation Assistants (VOAs) to Rs 8,000.

The State Government issued orders on Thursday to implement this decision, with effect from September, 2023. The order will additionally burden the exchequer of Rs 106 crore. The move is expected to benefit 17,608 women.

Besides increasing salaries, KCR has also decided to allocate Rs 2 crore per year for uniforms, as requested by the assistants of womens' organisations, and assured of extending the renewal process for assistants from every three months to one year. The Chief Minister also responded positively to the request of womens' associations to implement life insurance for them and ordered the Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao to study the relevant regulations and submit a report on the same.

The VOAs who met Finance Minister T Harish Rao, along with cabinet colleagues Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Sabita Indra Reddy, Satyavathi Rathod on Thursday expressed gratitude, stating that they now have the assurance of monthly salaries due to the decision taken by KCR.

In the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, VOAs were extending their services voluntarily to the self help groups in the financial aspects and compiling the data. They were given a meager Rs 2,000 honorarium. KCR recognised their contributions and decided to provide them with an additional honorarium of Rs 3000 in 2016.

With the recent implementation of the Pay Revision Commission (PRC), their salary increased to Rs 3,900, and with the addition of Rs. 2,000 from women's associations, their total salary amounted to Rs 5,900. Understanding the challenges they face at the field level, the Telangana Chief Minister had decided to further support them by increasing their salaries to Rs. 8000 as requested by the VOAs.`