Another round of talks on Telangana stir

HYDERABAD: The Kiran Kumar Reddy government on Friday extended fresh invitation for talks to the striking Telangana Employees’ Joint Action Committee (TEJAC). Earlier in the day, the TEJAC leaders rejected Thursday’s government invitation for talks with the GAD (services)secretary. Any further talks on their demands should be held at a higher level or with the chief minister, but not at the secretary level, TEJAC chairman K Swami Goud said.The state government invited a 10-member TEJAC delegation for talks with the cabinet sub-committee at the secretariat at 12 noon on Saturday.The TEJAC main demands include withdrawal of ESMA and GO 177, lifting of all police cases booked against the striking employees and conduct an inquiry into the attack on Swami Goud at the RTA office.It may be recalled that the TEJAC leaders, at their first meeting with the cabinet sub-committee on October 12, laid down some preconditions for talks with the government on their main demand for a separate Telangana state.The cabinet subcommittee comprising the deputy chief minister, A Ramanarayana Reddy (finance minister), N Raghuveera Reddy (revenue), D Prasada Rao (roads and buildings), M Mukesh Goud (marketing) and D Nagender (labour), promised to take their demands to the notice of the chief minister.The TEJAC leaders have decided to attend the talks on Saturday to know the government’s views on their three demands which they consider as an ‘entry point’ for further discussions.On the other hand, the cabinet sub-committee has decided to make a fresh appeal to the TEJAC to call off its strike.Chief secretary Pankaj Dwivedi confirmed that the TEJAC leaders were willing to hold talks with the government.