Bowing down to pressure mounted by the High Court and also by Chief Minister Harish Rawat — both maintaining stringent stances — the secretariat employees have finally called off their strike on Monday. The secretariat employees would resume their duties from Tuesday.
Sources said that the employees who had been on stir for days were left with no other option but to get off their high horse after the court and the Chief Minister made their stances clear that the stir being staged on unethical grounds would not be brooked.
"They hoped that the CM would acquiesce, given his penchant to humour the clamourous. But this time, he stood his ground and stonewalled any possibility of a dialogue to thaw the ice before the agitators mellowed first," said an observer.
However, the CM welcomed the rollback of the strike, saying that the employees are indispensable part of the process of governance. Sources further said that the State Government may now give some relief to their employees by way of reciprocation.
Notably, the strike has delayed cabinet meeting for a day. Earlier, the cabinet meeting was slated on Tuesday. But now it would be held on Wednesday at 5 pm instead.
On Sunday, The Pioneer had published a story that Parliamentary affair minister Indira Hridayesh had appealed to them to return to their work.
Putting up a brave face, the employees' union general secretary Pradeep Papnai said they have merely postponed, not withdrawn, the strike. We hope, the Government would consider our demand seriously, he said.
CM Rawat reiterated that their top priority is to resolve the problems of the people. Government is always ready to interact with its officials and employees as well.
There is no better option than dialogue. Government is always ready to fulfill the appropriate demands of its employees. Employees' leadership has shown sagacity by rolling back the strike.
This augurs well for the State, as both the High Court's ruling and the people's sentiment have been paid the respect they deserve, he said.
Talking to The Pioneer, the secretariat's administration (SAD) secretary PS Jangpangi said that acting on the instruction of the High Court, they were bound to enforce ESMA byMonday. But the employees having called off the strike has spared them the imperative of invoking the act strictly.
It would be pertinent to mention here that the secretariat employees had gone on an indefinite strike since November 12- a day after the State Cabinet decided to keep the secretariat open for six days in a week and to introduce and make mandatory biometric attendance.