The ongoing strike of the State Employees' Joint Council Uttarakhand (SEJCU) is being intensified with the protesting State Government employees in no mood to compromise.
Accusing the State Government of apathy, the protesting workers have planned to continue their fight with Government until their demands are approved and necessary Government orders are issued. Notably, the Government employees of various departments, under the banner of SEJCU, have been protesting for the past 13 days in support of their 23-point demands.
Their demands include the removal of pay anomalies among State Government employees, timely promotions, fixing the age limit for State employees at 62 years and other demands. The SEJCU spokesperson Arun Pandey said that the members have decided to continue their protest until and unless the government issues the demanded GO.
According to Pandey, the works in Government offices are also getting affected due to the indefinite strike started on October 17. The Government employees of various departments under the banner of SEJCU are on State-wide protest in Dehradun and other district headquarters. He further said that essential services in all the departments have also been hampered in the State.
Bhopal Singh, a Government employee and general secretary of the SEJCU, said, "We have been consistently protesting for last thirteen days but to no avail. Government seems to be in no mood for listening to our demands," he said while alleging that bureaucrats are mainly responsible for the delay in redressal of their demands.
Sanjeev Kumar, president of the Fisheries Department employees' union, blaming the State Government, said, "The ministerial employees, who are less qualified than us, have got a higher pay scale than us. “Their pay has been augmented from 2,800 to 4,200 but no increment has been done in our case. We are still fighting for it but the State Government has ignored our demands."
Sharing similar sentiments, Vijay Mamgai, president of the roadways employees u nion said that all the roadways employees have also come forward to support the protest of the State Government employees. Spokespersons of the various departmental employees unions said that on Tuesday, a meeting had been scheduled with the additional chief secretary, Rakesh Sharma after which the future course of action would be decided by the employees.
According to the protesters, the State Government has agreed to 15 of the total 23 demands. But they are still waiting for the Government order. They plan to intensify their agitation if the required GO is not issued in the near future to meet their demands.