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| Employees defer strike till Mar 19 | | Work paralysed in govt offices on 5th day | |
ET Report
Jammu, Mar 13: A day after the State government's dialogue offer to the striking employees, the representatives of different factions of employees have decided to defer their strike till March 19, the date finalized for holding parleys between Cabinet Sub-Committee and protesting employees.
The State Government had invited the striking government employees for talks and it had constituted a cabinet sub-committee for the purpose yesterday.
About four lakhs government employees observed five days long strike across the State in support of their demands including release of Sixth Pay Commission arrears with effect from January 2006, enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60 years, release of COLA and regularisation of daily wagers, contractual and others working in different government departments, uniform HRA to state government employees and removal of pay anomalies of clerical cadre and other cadres etc.
However, normal functioning in all government offices and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) remained paralyzed across the State on five consecutive days today. Barring emergency services, employees of almost all departments, PSUs and Corporations stayed away from their respective duties insisting the administration to implement the already agreed demands.
However, the Civil Secretariat employees did not participate in the strike and attended their offices as usual. Civil Secretariat Non-Gazetted Employees Association had threatened to adopt agitational path if their demands are not fulfilled at the earliest.
Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), an amalgam of all several employees association along with a faction of Employees Joint Action Committee had called for five days strike.
"There was a complete strike in all the three regions of the State. As the State Government has invited us for talks on March 19 at Civil Secretariat, our executive body would hold a meeting in Jammu on March 18 and chalk out future course of action. We have decided to defer our strike till March 19 and if the talks with the Cabinet Sub-committee remain fruitless, the decision of executive body would be announced simultaneously," said JCC leader, Abdul Qayoom Wani while talking to Early Times telephonically from Srinagar.
Ram Kumar Sharma, Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) leader condemned the "apathetic" and "cold attitude" of the government and alleged that it compelled the employees to adopt the agitational path. "It has failed to honour its commitment and implementation of left out part of the cabinet decision regarding the employees demands," he charged.
Sharma said that the EJAC has decided to postpone its agitation till March 19 and it would announce decisive agitational programme after the meeting with the Cabinet Sub-Committee constituted by the Government for holding the dialogue with the striking employees.
In Jammu city, hundreds of employees of different departments assembled in Government SMGS Hospital, Shalamar Jammu and shouted the anti-administration slogans.
Reports from different tehsil and district headquarters said that similar protests and rallies were organised.
"Though emergency services were exempted from the strike yet healthcare services in different hospitals affiliated with Government Medical Colleges Jammu and Srinagar (GMC), remained badly affected. Even Out Patient Departments (OPDs) were locked because of the strike by paramedical and other staff," reports said.
Besides, people across the state had to face several hardships as government officers remained locked and official work was boycotted by the employees.
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