Govt employees on warpath as Assembly elections draw near
Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, August 12
With political temperatures rising in Haryana as the Assembly elections draw near, the government employees are on a warpath against the government and Karnal, the CM’s home seat, has become their chosen battleground for protests.
In the past one month, the city witnessed about 12 protests with everyone from doctors, nurses, patwaris, National Health Mission (NHM) employees, computer operators, clerical staff, gramin chowkidars, members and chairpersons of panchayat samitis, engineers of various departments, PWD mechanical workers, and others taking to the roads to press for their demands. Their demands range from increase in pay scale to regularisation of their jobs.
Some of these protests have continued for a week or longer, causing significant inconvenience to residents.
On Monday, clerical staff from various government offices staged a dharna outside the Mini- Secretariat, demanding a hike in their pay scale from Rs 21,700 to Rs 35,400. Meanwhile, National Health Mission (NHM) workers, who have been staging a state-level protest since July 26 for regularisation of their jobs, continued their dharna at the Civil Surgeon’s office, disrupting health services.
Additionally, members and chairpersons of block samitis are protesting to demand an increase in their powers. Regular nursing staff from Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, who have been on dharna since August 7, continued their protest on Monday, pressing for the upgrade of their status from Group C to Group B and an increase in their nursing allowance from Rs 1,200 to Rs 7,200.
The data entry operators of the District Information Technology Society (DITS) held a 19-day state-level protest in Karnal from July 15. They demanded regularisation of job, budgetary provisions for DITS, creation of permanent posts, job security until the age of 58, and equal pay for equal work. They resumed duties on August 5 after receiving assurances from Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini that their demands would be considered. During their strike, citizens faced a lot of difficulties in getting their work done at SARAL Kendras, tehsils and other government offices.
Doctors of government hospitals under the banner of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association protested across the state from July 25 to 27 to press for their demands, including assured career progression. Political experts say such protests are common before every election, as they are seen as pressure tactics.
