Govt staff demand pending DA arrears, pay hike, service benefits

Raipur: Officers and employees of the Chhattisgarh govt, under the banner of the Chhattisgarh Karmachari Adhikari Federation (CKAF), will stage demonstrations at district and block headquarters across the state on March 18 to protest during their lunch break and press for various long-pending demands.The CKAF called for large-scale participation to demonstrate unity. Key grievances include the adjustment of Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears pending since July 2016 into General Provident Fund (GPF) accounts, as per the ‘Modi Ki Guarantee' election promise.The protestors are also demanding a 4-tier time-scale pay structure at intervals of 8, 16, 24, and 32 years. Furthermore, they are seeking an increase in earned leave encashment to 300 days, similar to the policy in Madhya Pradesh.Key demands include the public release of the Pingua Committee report to resolve salary discrepancies for clerks, teachers, and staff in the health and women and child development departments; calculation of service benefits for teachers from their initial date of appointment; removal of the 10% cap on compassionate appointments and making the process unconditional across all direct recruitment posts; regularisation of panchayat secretaries, daily wage workers, and contractual employees; and increasing the retirement age to 65 years to address staff shortages.The Federation also demanded an end to Aadhaar-based attendance systems and the practice of post-retirement contractual appointments. Instead, they urged the state govt to permit immediate recruitment for vacant posts.CKAF state convenor Kamal Verma, who is also the state President of the Chhattisgarh Gazetted Officers Association, appealed to all employees to join the stir in large numbers.