Govt. talks about financial strain, asks staff not to protest

The Minister for Personnel and Administrative Reforms D. Jayakumar on Monday urged teachers and State government employees not to protest pressing for various demands but work along with the government.

In a request to teachers in government and government-aided schools and government employees published in various dailies, Mr. Jayakumar said there was no doubt that the government employees were behind the implementation of various welfare schemes of the State government.

Referring to the economic slowdown across the world, Mr. Jayakumar said the State government was still implementing employee welfare measures such as extended maternity holiday for women staff and timely revision of the dearness allowance.

Dwelling on the financial crunch faced by the State government, Mr. Jayakumar said it was left only with 6% of the tax receipts and central funds for the implementation of various people welfare schemes.

“If operational costs are high, there cannot be allocations for people welfare schemes,” he pointed out.

There are about 12 lakh government employees and 7.42 lakh pensioners in the State and 70% of the tax revenue goes towards payment of their salary and pension.

“I hope the teachers and government employees will realise the hardships faced by the government and work along with us,” he said.

“Teachers and employees should avoid taking part in protests and strive for the development of the State,” he added.