State machinery cripples:16 lakh employees on a three day strike

Lucknow: As many as 16 lakh state government employees will be on a three day strike from Wednesday, demanding, getting paid at par with Central government employees. The strike led by the Rajya Karmachari Sanyukt Parishad, will hamper the work in departments of education, health, Agriculture, Irrigation, Social welfare, transport and Public Works Department (PWD).

About 250 employee unions have extended their support for the strike.

What employees leader said:

• Employee leader Hari Kishore Tiwari said, "many times in the past, we made efforts to press our 15-point charter including requests regarding House Rent Allowance (HRA), basic pay, promotion and many more, but no one paid heed to it, hence we are left with no option."
• He stated that the union has now decided to proceed with the strike after several failed rounds of talks with the state government.
• “The strike was on and we are ready for any action by the government. We will fight it tooth and nail,” said Tiwari.

Demands of state employees which went unnoticed:

Certain demands of the employees were accepted but no orders were given by the government. The major demands made in the 15-point charter of the state employees were as follows.

• The employees demanded that class four employees should be promoted. The government did not accept the proposal.
• The government accepted the demands of employees stating that the HRA should be increased and should be at par with the employees of Central government.
• Class VI employees should be admitted on job through direct interviews and should be freed from the service of Gram Pradhans.