Deadlock persists over allowances: Mahasangh

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 21

After several rounds of talks with the government, Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh leaders on Saturday said that a deadlock still existed over allowances and they would hold a meeting soon to decide their future course of action. Meanwhile, the government claimed that the Central government’s pattern had been followed in case of allowances.

A deputation of Mahasangh leaders led by its president Kanwar Singh Yadav held three rounds of talks with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s Principal Secretary Rajesh Khullar on Friday evening and then again met several time on Saturday.

“We are satisfied that the government has issued a circular regarding the cashless medical treatment facility for its employees in the empanelled hospitals. The government has also agreed that all contractual employees will get their salary by the 7th of every month, failing which action will be initiated against the officers responsible for the lapse. An agreement has also been reached to provide the same pay for the same work to all contractual employees after April 30,” said Yadav after the talks.

He said that the government has announced to release a mobile application where any contractual employee, who thinks he or she was being denied benefits of equal pay for equal work, could upload his or her particulars. The government would inquire into the case of such contractual employees and initiate action against the heads of departments for lapse.

“While we are satisfied with these steps, the government has failed to keep its word on the issue of allowances announced under the Seventh Pay Commission. We were assured in the previous meetings that allowances would be given with effect from January 1, 2016, but now the government says these would be given from May 1, 2018, ” said Yadav.

Khullar, however, said that there was no reason for the employees to be dissatisfied as the government had given them allowances according to the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission.

He said the government had decided to give all nine allowances admissible to Central employees, a new allowance at birth of a child to women employees with disabilities and some other allowances that were not even admissible to Central government employees, but were in vogue in Haryana.

As regard the date from which the allowances are to be paid, Khullar said that while the salary as per the Seventh Pay Commission was given with effect from January 1, 2016, allowances could not be treated the same way.