The diploma engineers who had been on indefinite strike since February 27, continued their agitation even on Wednesday, threatening to intensify their stir in case their long pending demands remain unsolved.
Since we have not received any positive response from the State Government even after so many rounds of talks, we have now decided to intensify our agitation, said Navin Kandpal, president of the Uttarakhand Diploma Engineers Federation (UDEF), while talking to
The Pioneer. We would now be able to decide our future course of strategy like ‘jail bharo andolan’ till March 9, Kandpal added.
It may be recalled that the striking employees have already had three rounds of talks to break the deadlock with the State Government during the past two days.
While the members of the UDEF met with the senior officials and the Chief Minister on Monday with their long pending issues and on Tuesday they had a meeting with Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat. But the talks between the members of the UDEF and the State Government have so far failed to reach any conclusion.
In the meanwhile, developmental works seem to have adversely affected in the hill State following the indefinite strike by the diploma engineers since February 27.
Diploma engineers of many departments including PWD, RES, Jal Sasthan, minor irrigation to name a few have gone on strike for the past so many days.
The main demands of the diploma engineers are revising of the pay scale of the junior engineer from
`4,200 to `4,800, increasing the vehicle allowance upto 50 per cent of the grade pay to name a few.
Besides, we have also urged the State Government not to award contracts of different developmental works to outside agencies like UP Government construction corporation (UPGCC), CPWD and others, said
the strikers.
The matter of fact is that many a number of State executive agencies like the PWD, irrigation to name a few are rendered jobless as most of the contract of the construction works are being
given to the outside agencies, alleged the striking diploma engineers.
The fact is following the practice of awarding contracts to outside executive agencies, possibility of corruption in assigning these contracts can’t be ruled out, they stated. That is why we strongly demand that state executive agencies
must be given the contracts of the developmental
works, the striking diploma engineers maintained.