Union sets deadline for pay parity.

The Sadou Asom Karmachari Parishad (SAKP) has given a six-month ultimatum, beginning August 14, to Dispur to bring the salary package of the state government employees on a par with that of central government workers.
The union, the apex body of the 4.5 lakh-strong workforce of the Assam government, has demanded that the new pay package be given a retrospective effect from January 1, 2006.
Its general secretary, Bashab Kalita, today said the union had made August 14 — the day the Central Pay Commission’s recommendation came into effect — as the starting date of the six-month ultimatum.
“The Parishad has made it clear to the government that it should take care of our demand in six months starting from August 14,” Kalita said.
Within that period, the State Pay Commission 2008, constituted on May 30 should submit its report to the government, he said and added that Dispur in turn should ensure that its recommendations were fulfilled within the given time frame.
The deadline was set as the union was unhappy with the alleged tardy pace of work of the pay commission.
The commission has recently sought 74 queries from the various state government employees’ unions.
The last date for submitting answers to the queries is September 9.
Kalita said through the queries, the commission has sought to know from various unions and associations the kind of facilities they were expecting from the government.
“We want that the issue of the pay package should be resolved as early as possible. It should not be kept hanging,” Kalita said.
“There is a department-wise variation of scale and that too should be done away with. There should be intra-department parity,” Kalita added.
The union has made two special demands exclusively for the teachers.
It demanded that all government teachers be given earned leave of 30 days in a year instead of only 10 days of earned leave they are entitled to now. The union has also demanded 300 days of leave encashment on retirement.
At present, the teachers are entitled to leave encashment of only 80 days.
Kalita said these two demands aimed at brining parities with leave facilities enjoyed by teachers of other states vis a vis the employees of the governments of their states.
On its part, the union assured of an improved work culture among the government employees and said that it would not object to any curtailment of holidays if recommended by the pay commission.
“It is our endeavour to improve the work culture. For this, we have not resorted to any agitation to press for our demands. We will not object to curtailment of holidays if the commission feels that such a move will increase the efficiency of the administration,” Kalita said.