SAD says Cong govt played fraud on employees by announcing implementation of 6th Pay Commission but leaving the actual delivery to next SAD-BSP alliance govt
(N K Sharma condemns stoppage of various allowances as well as discrimination against new recruits)
Chandigarh, June 19 – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said the Congress government had played a fraud on its employees by merely announcing implementation of the 6th Pay Commission but leaving its actual delivery to the next SAD-BSP alliance government. It said the announcement, which was made on the eleventh hour on the eve of assembly elections in Punjab, contained many anti-employee measures including stoppage of various allowances.
Disclosing this, SAD Spokesman N K Sharma said it was shocking that the Congress government was taking credit for the supposed implementation of Pay Commission which was due in 2017. He said even after delaying release of the Pay Commission recommendations for four years, the Congress government had staggered release of the benefits to employees till 2025. “This is a cruel joke on the employees who have been waiting for years for the release of their dues. Staggering the release of dues till 2025 does not make any sense as the next Pay Commission will be due in 2026”, Mr N K Sharma said while demanding that the total dues of Rs 13,800 crores be released to employees immediately.
Speaking about the allowances which had been stopped, the SAD leader said clerical staff and police personnel were most affected. He said benefits extended to employees by a SAD government led committee in 2011 which redressed grievances of employees vis a vis the 2007 Commission had been taken back. He said employees who had been benefitted during SAD tenure were told that a pay multiplication factor of 2.25 would be applicable to them instead of the 2.59 times multiplication factor recommended for all employees. “Employees who are in the scale of Rs 10300+34800+3200 grade pay will be the worst hit as they will get an increase of only Rs. 1000 to 1200 per month”.
Sharma said similarly House Rent Allowance of all categories had been decreased. He said the allowance had been slashed from 30 to 24 per cent for class A category, from 20 to 16 per cent for class B, from 12.5 to 1 per cent for class C and from 10 to 8 per cent for class D employees. He said apart from this, Additional House Rent being paid to employees had been abolished. Similarly, he said, rural area allowance has been decreased from 6 to 5 per cent and Non-Practicing Allowance of doctors has been slashed from 25 to 20 per cent. “Conveyance allowance being paid to employees has also been abolished”, he added.
The SAD leader also highlighted how the government had now created two categories of employees in the State by enforcing central pay commission regulations on all new recruits. He said this was against the principle of equal work and equal pay. “We cannot have two persons working on different salaries on the same post”, he said while demanding all employees be paid Punjab salary grades.
