Govt. offices wear a deserted look

MYSURU, June 3, 2016

45,000 employees take to the streets seeking pay parity

Nearly 45,000 State government employees in the district, cutting across grades, went on a strike on Thursday in Mysuru district seeking pay parity with the Central government staff.

 

This was part of a State-wide one-day strike called by the Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association. The staff abstained from work en masse and assembled outside the association office on Dhanavantri Road and raised slogans in support of their demands. Most State government offices wore a deserted look, but for senior officers and attendants who were present, but public work was affected.

 

Pay parity

 

An official at the Mini Vidhana Soudha, which houses the Revenue Department, told The Hindu that a majority of the staff had abstained from work. The association members claimed that there were 10 pay commissions for the Central government staff between 1966 and 2011 while the State government had constituted only 5 such pay committees during the same period, resulting in pay disparity.

 

Staff of various government educational institutions, including teachers and lecturers, supported the strike as a result of which their functioning was affected. However, the strike had little impact on the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) which functioned as usually, according to Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath. But, transactions in the revenue offices, including the sub-registrar’s office, were impacted owing to the strike.

 

The agitating employees drew attention to the assurances given by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, when the association raised the subject during the pre-budget consultations early this year and expressed regret that it was yet to be complied.

 

H.K. Ramu, district unit president of the association, said they would discuss the next course of action after talks with fellow-members in case there was no response from the Chief Minister of the Principal Secretary.

 

Mr. Ramu said the stir would be intensified if legitimate demands were not met. Justifying the strike, he said that there was a difference of 44.5 per cent in the basic salary among Group ‘D’ employees, while the difference was 110 per cent in basic for A-1 staff, compared to their counterparts in the Centre.

Source : http://www.thehindu.com