7th Pay Commission: When government employees launched protests over unmet demands
7th Pay Commission: Government employees across a number of states plus bank employees, central government employees, Indian Railways employees and even postal department employees have launched strikes over the recent months. These have been short, but have served to highlight the fact that the employees are under tremendous pressure as the salaries they are getting are not enough to meet their needs.
7th Pay Commission: Among the first to threaten to launch protest were central government employees unions. The Centre hurried to placate them and these threats were never carried out. However, the promises made have not been delivered on even now. Central government employees want a hike in fitment factor to 3.68 times rather than the small amount that is currently being implemented. Image source: PTI
7th Pay Commission: Gramin Dak Sevaks launched what was the longest and most effective protest. They refused to deliver mail for weeks and there was a massive backlog. Dak Sevaks are not exactly government servants in the true sense of the term, but they got full support from their colleagues in the Postal Department who are legally government employees. The Centre then agreed to their demands and gave them a big salary hike. Image source: Reuters
7th Pay Commission: Railways unions launched a strike over their demands too. They were protesting against the Centre for not having agreed to their demands that includes an improvement in fitment factor, minimum wages and pension. National Pension Scheme is a big bone of contention. Centre is saying that the hikes in salaries of staff as per 7th pay commission have affected the financial situation of Railways to a great extent. Image source: PTI
7th Pay Commission: State government employees in Manipur too lodged a strong protest by resorting to a stop-work strategy. They want the state government to order the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission report recommendation for them too. They were promised that their demands will be met during the run up to the state election, but so far nothing has happened. Image source: PTI
7th Pay Commission: On Saturday, 16th June, 2018, the teaching community under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) held a strike in Srinagar. They are demanding release of pending salaries as well as regularisation of their jobs. They observed a 'black day' to highlight their demands. Image source: PTI