Sixth Pay Commission: Gujarat employees to Strike on Nov 5

There seems to be a wide-spread anger in the government employee committee in Gujarat state regarding the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. The Gujarat government employees are planning mass strike on November 5, 2008 or better to say take a Mass Casual leave. This strike is against the delay by the government in implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.Wikipedia on Sixth Pay Commission.

It is expected that around 8 lakh employees will be taking part in the mass strike across entire Gujarat. The protest is because the salary hike of Sixth Pay Commission recommendation is not yet implemented. The employee organization, called Gujarat Rajya Karmachari Mahamandal convened by Girish Raval has also threatened that if the implementation is not made till Diwali, the protest will be intensified.

As per the news, a 5-member Cabinet sub-committee, set up to study the implications of the Commission’s recommendations, had on Monday last, submitted its report to the government, suggesting that it could be implemented in the state.
Despite the "positive" report submitted by a sub-committee headed by Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala, the Modi government was dilly-dallying in announcing the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations, he said.

The Mahamandal leader said that apart from the Central government, six other state governments had announced that they will implement the recommendations in toto. But, the Gujarat government continues to keep its employees on tenterhooks, he said.

What is the stand of the Gujarat Government in implementing the Sixth Pay Commission Recommendations?
The state Finance Department official are putting the blame on the additional burden of about Rs 3,000 crore in the first year when it decides to implement the Commission’s recommendations for its employees with retrospective effect from January 2006.

Later, the government would have to shoulder an additional burden of Rs 1,000 crore annually if the recommendations hiking the employees’ salaries were implemented in toto, at par with the Central government employees.

There are over eight lakh government employees, including those serving in the state-owned Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in Gujarat. Besides, there are over two lakh pensioners in the state, who will also benefit from the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations.