Cong supports govt employees's agitation over wages

Gandhinagar, May 1 (UNI) Leader of Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly Arjun Modhwadia today strongly criticised government's apathy toward the 'legitimate' demands of the state government employees.

He criticised the state government for issuing overnight directives to all those who participated in the mass casual leave today, and treating it as a break in their service besides deducting one day's salary.

''Such attitude of the State government will adversely affect the morale of its employees,'' he said.

He urged the government to refrain from adopting such hard measures and instead fulfil the 'legitimate' and 'reasonable' demands of the employees.

He said when the employees had gone on a mass casual leave during 2005, the government had assured to resolve their demands within one month but that promise has not been kept till today, he alleged.

The Gujarat Rajya Karmachari Sankalan Samiti had called for a day's mass casual leave today across the State in protest against the State's apathy toward solving their long-pending demands.

The Union is demanding implementation of 50 per cent DA merger and its benefits from April one, 2004, acceptance of pay anomalies report as directed by Gujarat High Court, allotment of residential plots to employees at taluka and district-level on the lines of the one in Gandhinagar, re-introduction of leave travel concession and recruitment of relatives of deceased employees on compassionate grounds with full salary.

He said the State government is spending crores on organising celebrations and publicity campaigns but they did not have funds to meet the demands of its employees.

''The government employees are important organs of an administration and hence it is the government's duty to address their grievances,'' he added.

UNI