Team News Riveting
Raipur, December 29
The government employees under the banner of Chhattisgarh Employees and Officers Federation on Monday resorted to strike in support of their various pending demands.
The employee leaders asserted that if the government does not engage in dialogue, the Federation would declare an indefinite strike. The strike called on Monday would continue till Wednesday.
The leaders said there was widespread discontent among employees regarding the state government’s alleged failure to implement “Modi’s Guarantee” scheme for the employees. The Federation’s main demands include implementation of Dearness Allowance (DA) for employees and pensioners at par with the Central Government, effective from the due date, adjustment of DA arrears in the employees’ GPF accounts, granting of four-tier time-bound pay scale to all employees, implantation of the Pingua Committee report to address pay anomalies in various cadres, including clerks, teachers, health department, and women and child development department.
Besides, the Federation is also demanding granting of full-service benefits to teachers by calculating their service from the date of their initial appointment, granting of the third time-bound pay scale to assistant teachers and assistant veterinary officers. Regular monthly salaries and timely promotions for urban local body employees, relaxation of the 10 per cent ceiling in compassionate appointment rules, implementation of cashless facilities in the state.
Regularization of panchayat secretaries, encashment of earned leave up to 300 days, formulation of a concrete policy for the regularization of daily wage, irregular, and contractual employees and bringing uniformity across all departments and increasing the retirement age to 65 years are among the other demands.
The Federation leaders said the first day of the strike received a mammoth response as offices including the secretariat wore a deserted look. Most schools remained closed while employees of urban local bodies took leave to participate in the impactful protest. Teachers and employees in the state’s universities also took leave to support the Federation’s movement. Officers and employees in the departmental head offices, corporations, boards, etc., in Nava Raipur observed a pen-down strike, showing their full support. The movement caused difficulties for senior officers in reaching government offices in Nava Raipur.
Under the guidance of the provincial convener of the Chhattisgarh Employees and Officers Federation, Kamal Verma, and divisional in-charge Chandrashekhar Tiwari, there was considerable enthusiasm for the pen-down, work-stoppage movement in Raipur.
