The working of the government offices in Manipur was severely affected on Tuesday, the first day of the indefinite cease-work strike launched to demand the implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.
The strike was called by the Manipur Government Services Federation and the Manipur Secretariat Services Association. The leaders of the striking employees said that the government had “failed to translate the various commitments and understandings into actions”.
As employees in all major departments joined the strike, normal official work came to a grinding halt. The leaders said that though the government had given assurances from time to time to implement the enhanced pay scale many departments were yet to get it.
There was a pay discrepancy among some employees. They said that the nurses in the government medical college and JN Institute of Medical Sciences get the enhanced pay while those in district-level hospitals were yet to get it. They also pointed out that while the Dearness Allowances of the pensioners of the Central government were increased to 28% those of the State government services continued to get just 7%. They said that the strike would continue till the revised pay and pension were implemented.
