Team News Riveting
Raipur, August 22
The employees and officials of Chhattisgarh government today resorted to indefinite strike in support of their two-point demands.
The strike has been called under the banner of Chhattisgarh Employees-Officers Federation. The employees are demanding 34 percent dearness allowance (DA), house rent allowance and seventh pay scale at par with the central government. At present, they are getting 22 per cent DA.
Earlier, the employees had staged a five-day strike from July 25. After failing to fulfil the demands, the Federation had called for an indefinite strike. The state has over 450,000 employees.
The staff of Mantralaya had been reluctant but the employees of judiciary and tehsil have joined the strike. The Federation leaders claimed that about 95 per cent government employees and officers had been on strike from today. The official works especially in the revenue department have been severely affected.
“This is a historic agitation as the offices remained totally closed in the third phase of the movement,” Federation convenor Kamal Verma said. The agitation of Chhattisgarh employees is a hot topic of discussion among employee unions across the country, he added. Verma said instead of calling the Federation office bearers, negotiation was held with another group.
The Federation would have still respected the verdict had the government announced 12 per cent DA after discussion with another group.
The state government is taking necessary measures to deal with the employee agitation. A few groups including clerical staff association and teachers’ union have severed from the strike.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel indicated a stern stand and said the government would not entertain any kind of “dealing”. He said during discussion with a group, the government had already announced 6 per cent DA. “We have taken a number of decisions in the interest of the employees that include the old pension scheme, half electricity bill, ration and five days working,” the Chief Minister said, adding that if the employees still wanted to continue with the strike, be it so! The state government will do its job.
Additional security forces have been deployed in the state capital to deal with any untoward situation arising from the agitation. The police personnel had to face a typical situation outside the Indrawati Bhawan that houses all departments.
The agitating employees raised the slogan “Police Zindabad” as one leader claimed they are also entitled for the DA and will support the strike.
