On 19th of February, 2009, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir decided in a cabinet meeting to implement the recommendations of the 6th pay commission at a later stage of July, 2009.The employees which numbers 4.50 lac had resorted to three days strike and had threatened to extend the strike in case the Government did not agree to meet their demands. But the Government had shown good sense and did not allow the situation to get aggravated and agreed to accept the 6th pay commission though in a fragmented manner. The cabinet had approved that the revised pay structure in the state would be made effective with notional increments from July, 2009 and the salaries for July would be drawn in the revised pay structure and distributed to the Government employees on August 1st, 2009. As regards the arrears, the same would be admissible from January 1st, 2006 and after crystallization, those would be given to the state Government employees in five equal annual installments and unfortunately even one installment has not been paid to the employees so for. The employees’ unions had put forward or proposed a list of demands to be fulfilled by the Government and the Government had shown reluctance to accept all the demands but had promised to consider the other demands of the employees also in the course of time. The demands which have been kept in abeyance are release of arrears, the increase in daily wage rates, regularization of adhoc, contractual and consolidated employees, sympathetic consideration of casual workers for regularization, and the increase in retirement age from 58 years to 60 years for the recognition of which the employees have been resorting to strikes this summer.            
           It is the moral responsibility of the Government to accept and implement the other parts of the pay commission/ demands and not allow the relation between it and the employees to worsen because it will surely put the interests of the common and poor man on rocks.  The Government has shown sagacious approach in tackling such situations in the past and the same is expected in the present now. It the duty of the employees to work in the offices honestly and devotedly so that the bottled-up people of this state do not suffer. On the other hand, the Government which has been elected by the people requires not only to fulfill the promises which they have had with the people before the elections but also promote a system of transparency, fairness and practicality. The people voted in elections with the hope for better facilities and basic amenities of daily life and hence, they deserve to be served in a dignified way so that they have no doubt in the democratic system. The Legislative Assembly Members who have been elected to represent their areas need to understand their responsibilities and try their utmost for the betterment of these areas during their term of six years and not become mute spectators while the employees and the Government are at war. They need to understand their responsibility and push up reconciliation process between the   Government and the employees.
Omar Abdullah, the youngest Chief Minister of the state has promised good governance and has also assured that all the people and places would be treated in fair and equal manner. In the past it has been witnessed that the respective Governments tried to develop chosen areas and ignored other areas which were thought as opposites but it is expected from Chief Minister that he will not repeat history and make sure that all are treated in just manner.  All must serve and deliver in the right manner and in case any complacency is shown, it is to cause serious injury to those in power as the public knows how to teach a lesson.       
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Lastupdate on : Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
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