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| 'Payment of 6th Pay Commission arrears' | | All Party delegation to meet PM | | EARLY TIMES REPORT | 4/1/2010 5:37:23 PM |
| JAMMU, Mar 31: A joint delegation of all political outfits of Jammu and Kashmir would meet the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in New Delhi seeking his intervention for granting an additional amount of Rs 4200 crore for paying the arrears of Sixth Pay Commission to 4.5 lakh government employees in the State.
The consensus in this regard was reached out in the 'All Party' meet called by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at Civil Secretariat here. The meeting, which was started at around 10:30 a.m, lasted till 1:00 p.m. The representatives of Peoples Democratic Party and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) stayed away from the meeting.
The meeting, however, failed to evolve a consensus over the issue of enhancement of employees' retirement age from 58 to 60 years, particularly in the context of its impact on the ever increasing problem of unemployment in the State.
As no clear consensus could be evolved on this highly "sensitive" issue, it was decided that this needs to be deliberated upon further with different stakeholders, including the employees, with a view to arriving at a fair and rational conclusion.
The meeting was called to discuss the issues pertaining to the payment of arrears on account of implementation of 6th Pay Commission recommendations and enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60 years.
At the outset, the Chief Minister gave the background of the state of economy of the State and reiterated the commitment of the Government to resolve all issues of employees. He stated that despite resource constraint, the Government has already acceded to most of the demands of the employees which include release of pay scales to the State Government employees and the PSUs in the light of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations. This has entailed an additional annual expenditure of Rs.1800 crores. It was also highlighted that despite limitation of resource, J&K was one of the few States which has implemented recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission.
Regarding the issue of payment of arrears on account of implementation of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations, the Government reiterated its commitment to meet this genuine demand of the employees which requires a huge amount of Rs.4200 crore.
The participants unanimously resolved to approach the highest levels in Government of India in the shape of an All Party delegation for providing the required resources to the State as a special dispensation.
It was also decided that before leaving for Delhi, the All Party delegation would hold extensive discussions with the representatives of the employees unions for better appreciation of their point of view.
In the end, all the participants made a joint appeal to the employees to exercise restraint and allow a reasonable time to the Government for further consultations to find an amicable and practical solution to their problems. It was resolved by all the participating members that in a democratic set up the path of dialogue and consultation have to be pursued to find mutually acceptable solutions, and all functionaries of the Government have to be conscious of their responsibilities towards the public at large.
The participants included Congress delegation led by Pt. Mangat Ram Sharma, National Conference headed by Ch. Mohammad Ramzan while Shamsher Singh Manhas headed Bhartiya Janta Party delegation, Hakim Mohammad Yasin, People Democratic Front, Ghulam Hassan Mir, Democratic Party Nationalists, Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami led CPI (M), Ashwani Kumar, Jammu State Morcha, Tulsi Dass, Bhujan Samaj Party, Abdul Rehman Tukroo CPI besides independent Legislators T. Namigyal, Er. Abdul Rashid and Charanjeet Singh also participated.
Prominent members of the political parties which attended the meeting included Legislators Mir Saifullah, Irfan Shah, Ashok Khajuria , Aijaz Jan, Ajay Sadhotra and T. S. Wazir and Swaran Lata, Muzaffar Ahmed Parray, Dharam Pal, Dharamveer Singh, Satish Sharma, Lalit Kumar Moza, Sat Sharma, Rampal and Ashok Singh.
The Minister for Finance, Abdul Rahim Rather, Minister for Education, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Minister for Rural Development, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister for PHE, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Minister for Industries, S. S. Slathia, Advisors to the Chief Minister, Mubarak Gul and Devender Singh Rana, Chief Secretary, S. S. Kapur, Commissioner/Secretary, GAD, Basharat Ahmed and Law Secretary were also present in the meeting.
Later, talking to the Early Times, Ashwani Kumar Sharma, JSM MLA from Bishnah said, "We made our stand clear that if the government has made a commitment with the employees to pay arrears of Sixth Pay Commission, it should either be paid in one go or installments so that the general public, which has been facing problems due to frequent strike of the employees, is provided relief."
He informed that a consensus was evolved over sending a delegation to the Centre seeking its financial assistance for paying the arrears of Sixth Pay Commission. "No consensus was reached out at the demand of enhancement of retirement age and it was decided that the decision in this regard would be taken after holding parleys with the employees' representatives," he said.
BJP state president, Shamsher Singh Manhas, who was heading the BJP delegation, also shared the same views and impressed upon the government for fulfilling the demands of the employees.
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