A massive rally of Central Government employees under the banner of Government Employees National Confederation, affiliated to Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) was held at Parliament Street in New Delhi on July 10. About 10,000 central government employees joined the rally, which was addressed by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Shri L.K. Advani, BMS national president Shri Girish Awasthi and BMS national general secretary Shri M. Lakshma Reddy.
Addressing the gathering Shri Advani fully backed the government employees? demands, arising out of their grievances over the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission. He said: ?What has been given by way of Sixth Pay Commission has been snatched away by inflation that has, as per official figures, neared 12 per cent. Indeed, many segments of government employees are poorer after the Pay Commission recommendations because of unprecedented price rise. Addressing the gathering Shri Girish Awasthi said the unanimous demands of all central trade unions based on facts to have minimum wage of Rs 10,000 per month has been totally ignored by the Pay Commission. He said the BMS strongly protests against the ban on recruitment of Group D employees, which would ultimately lead to more outsourcing and closure of government departments. Scrapping of certain allowances such as CCA, risk allowance and patient care allowance and abolition of public holidays are retrograde steps, which reflect anti-employees attitude of the Pay Commission. He appealed to the government to revise and rectify the recommendations before implementing them and thus protect the interest of the working class. Shri Lakshma Reddy also came down heavily on the anti-labour policies of the UPA government.
(FOC)
