As  the stand -off between the state government and the Adhikari, Karmchari, Shikshak Samanvay Samiti (AKSSS)- the umbrella organisation of all the employee unions- continues on the mass leave programme slated on January 31, AKSSS has decided that the employees of health, roadways, water supplies and power departments would stay away from strike to ensure  that the common people  are not affected.

In an effort to thaw the ice, the additional chief secretary ( ACS) Radha Raturi convened a meeting with the prominent AKSSS leaders at  the state secretariat on Wednesday. 

In course of the meeting, ACS requested the union leaders to call off their mass leave stir on January 31, citing the  problems it would cause for the people of the state.

She assured them that the state finance minister Prakash Pant has convened a meeting on the issue on Thursday.

The AKSSS leaders, however, rejected the appeal to  call off the strike.

“No concrete assurance has been given by ACS  on our demands and we have thus decided to stick to our plan for a mass leave on Thursday. However, on a humanitarian ground, we have decided to keep the essential services away from the purview of the mass leave programme,’’ said the AKSSS convener Santosh Rawat.

Meanwhile acting tough, the secretary finance, Amit Negi directed the director treasury and pensions to ensure that rule of ‘ No Work No Pay’ is strictly followed on the employees who would stay from their duties on January 31.

The employees were angry over the state government  having decided to fix the house rent allowance ( HRA) of the employees at 5, 7 and 9 percent of the basic salary, depending on the type of the city the employee is posted.

In a single stroke, the government has abolished 15 types of other allowances the employees used to receive.

The employee associations, waiting for the declaration of the allowances for long and pressuring the government to release them,  were enraged over the decision to scrap a string of allowances they used to enjoy.  They are  demanding the state government to go for payment of HRA on the lines of the Central government employees where 8, 16 and 24 percent of HRA is paid to  the employees.