Members of the Odisha State Heads of Department Section Officers’ Association and the Odisha Heads of Department Ministerial Officers’ Associations have decided to stage a dharna on November 16 in front of the Heads of Department (Na Tala) building here.
Key officers of the State Government after having a detailed discussion with the representatives of both the associations had promised to consider the employees’ year-old demands, but no steps have yet been taken to mitigate the grievances.
Speaking at a Press meet here on Wednesday, the associations’ leaders referred to the employees’ problems. “If our demands are not fulfilled in the meanwhile, we will stage protest against the Government’s apathy on December 7, 2016,” they said, adding that about 10,000 employees would participate in it.
The demands include job regularisation, promotion and salary hike. They also demand the new recruitments through Secretariat examinations and not through the Staff Selection Commission-held tests and payment of their salary at par with their Secretariat counterparts.
Associations’ leaders Madhusudan Mallik, Pravat Mohanty, Mihir Narayan Jena, Prasant Pattnaik and Pradeep Samantray were present, among others.