7th Pay Commission: Government employees take protest to streets; this is what they want

 7th Pay Commission: As many as 7,500 government employees' march in Tamil Nadu was thwarted by the police on Tuesday. Among the key demands of the government employees were payment of 21-month arrears as per the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, rectifying pay anomalies for employees and reverting to old pension scheme.The staff had proposed march to the Secretariat to pressurize the state government for their demands. However, the move was thwarted by police who detained as many as 7,500 protesters. Notably, there are about 12 lakh government employees and 7.42 lakh pensioners. It has been revealed that 70 per cent of the tax revenue of TN govt was spent on their salaries and pensions. 

Even as policemen tried their best to stop the protest, they could not stop the employees from raising slogans and they even managed to stage a brief sit-in at various locations before the police crcked down on them. The  crackdown was so severe that it led to traffic jams as cops stopped and checked buses and vans in a bid to stop employees arriving from other parts of Tamil Nadu from getting into the city. Those who were detained included leaders of the Joint Action Committee of Tamil Nadu Teachers' Organisations- Government Employees' Organisations (JACTTO-GEO). However, they were later released. The security was so tight that in the Fort St George complex housing the Secretariat, barbed wires used to prevent protestors getting in. Cops wanted to ensure that JACTTO-GEO protest fails, unlike the last time when, in August, 2018, it held a successful protest. Among the steps taken by the government over these demands is that in 2016, an expert committee was set up to look into the demand for reversion to the 'old pension scheme.'

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At the Centre, government employees too have made a number of demands and they are waiting for a favourable decision for a long time. They want the fittment factor to be hiked by 3.68 times and the minimum salaries to be raised to Rs 26,000 rather than the amount recommended bny the pay panel in its report, which is 2.57 times. While some sections amongst them have hinted at holding protests, nothing concrete has emerged.