Pen-down strike of govt employees paralyses administration

Panaji, Jun 13 (UNI) The indefinite pen-down strike of the Goa Government Employees Association, demanding parity in wages, has paraylsed the state administration on the first day of the agitation today.

About 45,000 government servants have stopped the work, though they attended the offices as usual. Their demands, if considered would leave a burden of about Rs 100 crore on the state exchequer.

The employees were protesting against the inability of government to consider their long pending demands, despite of several rounds of negotiations.

''There is no question of withdrawing the strike, as all the employees are united. So far we have not yet received any invitation for further talks,'' the Association president M L Shetkar told UNI.

About a rumour that the government was thinking of reducing the super-annuation age from 60 to 58, he said, it was welcome. He said the Association had never pressed for enhancing the retirement age, but former Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane had done so in April 2007, to benefit a section of the employees.

UNI BM RN SW DB1339