Itanagar, Jan 3 : Stung by the state government’s move to invoke some penal provisions of Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) as a method to pressure the employees to call off the proposed agitation, the aggrieved employees threatened to continue their proposed third phase of agitation from January 5.
“We will not budge an inch from our stand unless the government meets our demands in time. It is unbecoming of a government to invoke ESMA at a time when it is yet to constitute a Pay Commission in the state. The government cannot turn blind eye to the pleas of 84,359 state government employees.
The state government’s announcement to pay six months’ arrears is a tactical ploy to assuage our grievance. We want full three years’ pending arrears and extension of retirement age from 58 to 60.
The employees will launch the third phase of agitation from January 5 if the state government fails to meet our demands,” Mantu Mossang, the general secretary of the Confederation of Service Associations of Arunachal Pradesh (CoSAAP), said today.
CoSAAP is a conglomeration of 53 government employees association.
, last week submitted a memorandum to chief minister Dorjee Khandu, urging him to ensure implementation of three years’ arrears due since January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008 for the employees, implementation of sixth Pay Commission’s recommendation with cash payment of 40 per cent arrears during the current financial year and rest in 2009-10, the next financial year, extension of retirement age to 60 from existing 58 years and provision of transport allowances to employees.
The chief minister brushed aside any possibility of change in the government’s earlier stand — to pay only the six months’ arrears due since July 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008, instead of three years’ arrears due since January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008sinlung.com