Sikkim govt accepts pay commission report. * Police lathicharge protesting employees in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Sikkim government today accepted the fourth pay commission report recommending a substantial pay hike on a par with Central pay scale for its 35,000 employees.

Although the quantum of the pay hike was not divulged, the state government has set up a corpus of Rs 828 crore to meet the expenditure on account of payment of the increased salaries and arrears to employees, official sources said.

The arrears may be made in installments with 40 per cent of payment being proposed to be given to employees this financial year, the sources said.

The Sikkim Democratic Front government had constituted the Commission last year and the report was to be submitted by March this year.

The commission chairman Justice (retd) R K Patra submitted the report to Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling here today and it was accepted, an official release said.

Source PTI

Jammu and Kashmir

Hundreds of government employees were detained and dozens injured here as police today scuttled their proposed march to Lal Chowk to press for their demands regarding the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission report.

Many of the agitating employees were taken into preventive custody as they made repeated attempts to reach Lal Chowk in response to the call given by Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), an amalgam of various employees' organisations and associations.

They were also demanding increase in the retirement age from 58 to 60.

Accusing the government of "breaching" the agreement it had reached with the employees in March on the implementation of the Commission's report, JCC asked all government officials to assemble at Lal Chowk today and later gherao the Assembly.

The police had banned the mobilisation of people in the area and issued prohibitory orders.

Source : PTI