Port Blair, April 29: The Non-Gazetted Govt. Officers’ Association, A&N Islands organized a Mass Demonstration at the Secretariat Gate, Port Blair today at 4.30 p.m. demanding (1) Setting up of 7th Central Pay Commission to effect wage revision of central government employees and (2) immediate merger of 50% DA with pay and (3) to withdraw PFRDA Bill from the Parliament and to ensure Pension to all government employees.
A large number of government employees from various departments participated in the Mass Demonstration which was led among others by Shri R. Rajendran, Organising Secretary, Shri Anand Raj, Secretary, Secretariat Sub-Committee, Shri Venkat Rama Rao, Vice President and Shri R. Surendran Pillai, Secretary of South Andaman Teachers’ Branch and Shri Jairaj, Vice President, Clerical Cadre Branch of the Association.
Addressing the gathering, Shri D. Ayyappan, General Secretary of the Association said that the real value of wages determined by the 6th Central Pay Commission has now been eroded due to the unprecedented inflation in the economy and spiraling rise in the prices of essential commodities. While the Government permits wage negotiation and revision in the fully owned Public Sector Undertakings, Banks, etc. every five years, the denial to revise the wages of Central Government employees despite such large scale erosion in the real value of wages is absolutely unjustified.
Regarding merger of 50% DA with Pay, Shri Ayyappan said that presently, the dearness allowance is 80% as on 1.1.2013. As on 1.1.2011, the DA was at the rate of 51%. He demanded that the Government should take steps to merge 50% of DA with pay for all purposes, as done in the past, to compensate the erosion of the real value of wages of the Central Government employees. Shri TS Sreekumar, Asst. General Secretary also addressed the gathering and explained the demands in detail.