J & K employees’ strike on Dec 2

State employees, who are miffed at, what they call, government’s dilly–dallying tactics to implement the sixth central pay commission recommendations in respect of state employees even after obtaining clearance from the chief election commission of India, are observing strike on December 2, as a protest against it.
The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC)—an amalgam of EJAC(Q), EJAC (A), KAS Officers’ Association and Secretariat Non-Gazetted Employees’ Union. The leaders and representatives of its constituent units were present at the meeting.
“The government has constituted a pay committee to work out modalities for implementation of sixth pay commission recommendations, though it was already in place. We are not against it because modalities are to be worked out. But government has to issue formal orders as to when it is going to implement the recommendations. It has only given a verbal assurance that recommendations will be implemented after two months. Let it be after two months but the government should come out with a formal order mentioning specific date,” said the JCC spokesman and EJAC (A) president Khursheed Alam, while talking to Greater Kashmir.
On other demands, Alam said despite agreeing in principle the genuineness of the demands like enhancement of retirement age to 60 years, five-day week, and regularization of temporary employees and uniform wage structure of Rs 5000 per month and removal discrimination between IFS, IPS and local services, the government was not formally issuing any orders on these demands either. “The negotiations have failed to yield any result. We have no alternative but to launch a statewide agitation to press for the fulfillment of the employees demands,” he said.
Another JCC spokesman and EJAC (Q) president Abdul Qayoom Wani said, “The formation of pay committee by the government but a gimmick to buy time. Otherwise it had already been constituted a month ago. We are not against the formation committee but the government can implement new pay scales recommended in the sixth pay commission even right now in respect of all government and private sector employees and leave matter of arrears to the Committee to work out modalities. But the government is dithering on all issues and seems quite indifferent, compelling us to take recourse agitation.”
Qayoom warned that the JCC would announce its phase of struggle on December 2, only if the government failed to fulfill all the demands by then. “And it will be decisive phase of struggle,” he said,
The government yesterday constituted a six-member committee headed by financial commissioner, planning and development department, S L Bhat to work out modalities for the implementation of the recommendations of central pay commission in respect of the state government employees after it obtained clearance from the election commission of India through the chief electoral officer, Jammu and Kashmir.
The six-member pay committee comprises besides chairman, the administrative secretaries of home, finance ,GAD and law department as members while as the director codes, finance department, is the member secretary.