Hyderabad: The Telangana government released ₹720 crore on Saturday to clear long-pending dues of government employees, acting on directions issued by Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka.
He instructed finance department officials to ensure the amount was disbursed by Saturday evening. According to officials, the funds covered pending employee bills along with regular payments for January. These included gratuity, General Provident Fund contributions, employee advances and surrender leave encashment.
Officials said the move followed repeated assurances given by the government to employee unions. The administration had committed to allocating more than ₹700 crore every month to settle unpaid bills inherited from the previous regime. As part of this process, the government had released ₹183 crore by June last year. Since August, monthly releases have consistently crossed the ₹700 crore mark, officials added.
The latest allocation was described as one of the largest single-day disbursements for employee-related payments in recent months. Officials said the finance department prioritised clearing older dues while ensuring that current salary-related bills were not delayed.
Employee bills release cleared surrender leave encashment backlog
Officials confirmed that the current employee bills release cleared all pending surrender leave encashment dues from 2022 up to February 2025 in one tranche. Therefore, no surrender leave bills remain pending, they said.
The clearance covered employees who had been waiting for several years to receive encashment amounts. Officials stated that settling these dues would provide immediate financial relief to serving and retired staff across departments.
The finance department said it would continue releasing funds every month as promised to employee unions. Officials added that a predictable payment schedule would help prevent fresh backlogs and restore confidence among employees.
They also said that clearing accumulated dues was necessary to normalise the government’s financial processes. The department reiterated that employee-related payments would remain a priority in the coming months.
