Bihar Govt ready for talks with staff on pay hike

With various trade unions threatening to proceed on indefinite strike in January to protest alleged anomalies in the implementation of 6th Central pay commission recommendations in Bihar, the state government on Saturday said it would hold talks with employees' representatives. 

"We will sort out the differences. The government is sensitive towards their genuine demands and we will not let our employees face financial losses," deputy CM and finance minister Sushil Kumar Modi told TOI. 

Modi said the state government has implemented the pay recommendations even before the salary committee has submitted its report. "In Jharkhand and West Bengal, the recommendations have not yet been implemented because the salary committees there have not submitted reports," Modi said, adding since the Bihar government implemented the recommendations in haste, it formed the salary committee to resolve all related issues. 

According to finance department sources, the government is even ready to accept the demand of employees to implement the benefits with effect from January 1, 2006 on the pattern of the implementation of fifth pay commission recommendations. "On that occasion, the employees were given notional benefits from January 1, 1996. But, the actual benefits were given from April 1, 1997. We are ready to follow the same pattern __ giving notional benefits from January 1, 2006, but actual benefits from April 1, 2007. This will ensure promotional benefits to employees," a senior state government functionary said. 

TU representatives are charging the state government with deviating from the previous agreement reached with the employees at the time of implementation of 5th Central pay commission recommendations and alleged the scales of several section of employees have been downgraded which would lead to a loss of Rs 600 to Rs 1,000 per month to each one of them. 

They said the salary committee will create disparities in payscales because the economic situation of the state has been put as a condition on the salary committee's agenda. The pay disparities will lead to frequent strikes. Incidentally, the state government employees have not gone on strike since 1997. 

The state employees also alleged the state government, which has given full benefits and hefty hikes to IAS and IPS officials, has curtailed many benefits of state government employees.

Source : Times of India.