CM assures protection to industry during Telengana strikes
CM assures protection to industry during Telengana strikes
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy assured industrialists on Friday that the state government will provide adequate security to ensure their business doesn’t get disrupted because of frequent strikes called by Telangana activists campaigning for separate statehood for the region.
“Yes there were companies which put on hold their expansion plans (in Andhra Pradesh), but we will give full protection as far as industry is concerned," Reddy told southern regional council members of the Confederation of Indian Industry at an interaction in Hyderabad.
He noted that the state government had already brought the information technology industry under the Essential Services Maintenance Act, or ESMA, which prevents employees of key services including post and telegraph, railways, airports and ports from going on strike.
In the last two months, at least seven working days have been lost because of strikes and other protests called as part of the Telangana agitation. Government employees from the region plan to go on an indefinite strike from 6 September with the backing of the Telangana Joint Action Committee, an umbrella group that’s spearheading the agitation.
The state government has brought key departments including finance, treasury, commercial taxes, electricity and sanitation under ESMA ahead of the strike
The chief minister said he will consider bringing manufacturing under ESMA if industry sends him a proposal.
He skirted questions on the Telangana issue, saying “the lesser I talk the better."
“It’s matter of time before the problem heals," he added.
viswanath.p@livemint.com
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