50 lakh employees observe Protest Day

Chandigarh, Oct 30 (UNI) More than 50 lakh Government and semi-Government employees in the country today observed 'All India Protest Action' to demand reversal of alleged anti-employees policies of the UPA Government at the Centre and Governments in states.

The call for Protest Action was given by the All India State employees Co-ordination Committee, its General Secretary Ranbir Dhillon said in a release here.

The employees observed strike in states of Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhara Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, Tripura, Maharastra, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Rajasthan, he said.

According to him, the employees of Punjab, MP, Karnatka, Jharkhand, Gujrat, Goa, UP, Assam, Manipur, Uttaranchal wore black badges and held massive protest rallies at tehsil and district headquarters.

Mr Dhillon said the UPA government had kept the doors closed to negotiate on 15 points demands charter.

The charter of demands included scrapping of PFRDA Bill on Contributory Pension Scheme, allowing bonus as per amended bonus Act, introduction of revised pay scale, allowances and pensionary benefits with effect from January 1, 2006, enactment of Central bill on right to education, withdrawal of the ban on recruitment and policy of contract appointments, regularisation of services of lakhs of daily wagers, contract and work charged employees, raising the interest on GPF and small savings to 12 per cent.

Mr Dhillon alleged the Union Government and State Governments were following the dictates of World Bank. For reversal of the dictates, All India State Employees Co-ordination Committee had demanded withholding of unending incentives and concessions given to Corporate Houses, MNCs, SEZs and FDIs, curbing of tax evasion unearthing of black money and raising of taxes on luxury goods.

He said Mr M L Sehgal president from Hissar (Haryana), Mr K Balasubramanian, vice president from Chennai, Mr Jose Parkash from Trivandrum and Mr Nirmal Mukerjee from Kolkata have reported massive response to the strike and asked the UPA Government to negotiate and settle the 15-point demands, failing which direction action programme would follow.

UNI