Mumbai: State government employees will go on strike from August 7 to 9 for implementation of the seventh pay commission and other demands. The decision comes at a time when the Maratha reservation stir is already underway across the state.
State government emplo-yees are demanding impl-ementation of the seventh pay commission as the Union government implemented it last year. The state government had appointed a committee under retired additional chief secretary K.P. Bak-shi for giving recommendations to the government. However, the committee has not yet submitted its report.
With the pay commission delayed, the Maharashtra Gazette Officers Association has declared a strike as the organisation has already agitated several times in the past few months.
Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the government will implement the seventh pay commission before Diwali and that the government may provide an interim hike from next month. However, the employees are not ready to wait any longer, and are demanding implementation of the commission from this month. Implem-entation of the seventh pay commission will put an additional burden of '22,000 crore on the state exchequer, with arrears from January 2016 further increasing the burden.
Organisations are also demanding a five-day week and filling of 1.8 lakh vacancies. They have asked that the retirement age be increased to 60 years.
