New Delhi, July 8: Under tremendous pressure from central government workers’ unions, government announced that it would constitute a High Level Committee to study the demands made by the aggrieved employees. The assurance was given by the government to several union representatives who met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu to put forth their demands. Government’s proposal to constitute a panel to look into their demands has satisfied the union leaders as they have decided to defer their proposed strike beginning from July 11, by at least four months.
According to sources, the High Level Committee is likely to increase the minimum salary from Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000. However, the unions’ have demanded the increase in entry-level salary from current Rs 18,000 to Rs 26,000. Important to note is that the implementation of 7th Pay Commission increased the minimum salary from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000.
The High Level Committee will be commissioned on lines of the Empowered Committee of Secretaries which was tasked to review the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission as laid down by the Justice A K Mathur led committee. However, critics claim that either the Finance Ministry rejected the reviews made by the Empowered Committee of Secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, or the empowered panel failed to suggest any major changes.
The constitution of High Level Committee was the immediate crisis addressal move by the government, as nearly 33 lakh employees affiliated to National Joint Council of Action (NJCA), including those of Railways, Post, Telegraph and Defence factories had promised to go on strike from July 11.
SOURCE - INDIA. COM
