An empty Thane Collector’s office on Tuesday. (Express photo by Deepak Joshi)
The first day of the three-day strike called by the Maharashtra State Employees Organisation, demanding implementation of the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, across the state received a mixed response on Tuesday. The organisation said the strike would continue for two more days since there was no call from the government to discuss its demands.
The employees’ association, with more than 15 lakh employees, claimed the strike was “completely successful” in many districts such as Pune, Latur, Osmanabad, Gondia, Bhandara among others. Schools, colleges, regional transport offices, health centres in rural parts were completed closed, the association said.
“In Saturday’s meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, there was no concrete decision on the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission. Besides, the same promises were given for other issues such as five-day working week, increasing retirement age to 60 years,” said G S Shete, general secretary of the organisation.
Some of the demands of the employees’ organisation include immediate implementation of the seventh pay commission, payment of DA for 14 months, five-day working week and increasing the retirement age to 60 years, among others. Shete further said the state government didn’t take cognisance of protests held by employees in the past. “If the state government doesn’t take cognizance of the strike, then we will go on an indefinite strike in future,” he added.
However, the state government has maintained that there was not much impact of strike on the functioning. “There was more than 70 per cent attendance in Mantralaya and over 37 per cent officers and employees were present in government offices across the state,” said an official.
The disciplinary action or action under Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) would be taken against the employees participating in the strike, added the official.