Clerical staff detained, stopped from meeting Haryana CM Nayab Saini in Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra, July 21

A large number of employees, under the banner of Clerical Association Welfare Society Haryana, were detained by the police today after they tried to reach Chief Minister Nayab Saini’s Kurukshetra residence.

He was here today to attend the ‘Raahgiri’ programme.

The protesting employees said that they wanted to raise their grievance with the CM but were stopped by the police. They were taken to various police stations and released later. The employees have been protesting in support of their demand of raising the salary scale from Rs 21,700 to Rs 35,400.

‘We are not anti-social elements’

We are government employees, not anti-social elements. We were still forcefully taken into buses by the police. The employees have been struggling to get the demands fulfilled for nearly 18 years. The government accepts that the pay scale should be increased but no action is being taken. — Shashi Bhushan, An employee

The employees raised slogans against the state government and threatened to vote against the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections.

“We are government employees, not anti-social elements. We were still forcefully taken into buses by the police. The employees have been struggling to get the demands fulfilled for nearly 18 years. The government accepts that the scale should be increased but no action is being taken to provide relief. If the government fails to fulfil our demands, we will be forced to intensify the protest. The government has paid the price of not accepting the demands in the Lok Sabha election and it will pay the price in the Assembly elections too. The government has been testing our patience. More than the pay scale, the ongoing struggle has now become a matter of prestige for the employees,” said Shashi Bhushan, an employee.

Baljeet Singh Joon, the state president of the association, said, “We had started a march from Karnal on Saturday and will hold a protest in Panchkula on July 28. Today, we wanted to meet the CM, but we were forcefully taken to various police stations and released later. There was no plan to gherao the CM’s residence, we just wanted our grievance to be heard. Now, we are left with no other option but to intensify our agitation. It has been decided to hold protests outside BJP’s district offices to show our resentment on Monday. We have also called upon all unions and clerical staff members to reach Panchkula on July 28 in large numbers to participate in the protest.”