Raipur: The state govt employees today have begun a 5-day strike to push for the much-anticipated hike in the DA and fright allowance equivalent to the central govt hike as per the 7th pay commission.
The protest which will continue until July 29th is named the Kalaband Kamband Strike. The strike has been spearheaded by the Employees-Officer Federation Chhattisgarh Officer Employees Federation which consists of more than 75 employees organizations.
According to the federation officials, “There’s a 17 per cent difference between the DA of a state government employee and that of a central government employee. Interestingly, the HRA (House Rent Allowance) payable hasn’t been updated to the 7th commission pay scale. It’s still as per the 6th pay commission and doesn’t even beat the current inflation.”
The official further added that if the dearness allowance and rent allowance are implemented, then every employee will get 5000 more. Apart from these, various deductions are also being made in salary and allowances in the garb of reducing administration expenses.
The state government gave its approval in the Vidhan Sabha to increase the salary and allowances of MLAs last week. Earlier, MLAs used to get a salary of Rs 95,000 per month. Now it has been increased to Rs 1,50,000 per month. Also, medical and telephone allowances for the MLAs have been increased by 5,000 each.
The Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee of Naxalites has supported the five-day strike. The Chhattisgarh Teachers Association has also announced its support for the strike and will not be going to schools. Around five lakh employees working across various departments will join the protest.