ITANAGAR, 23 Aug: The Arunachal Pradesh Trade Union Federation (APTUF) has submitted a 30-day ultimatum to the chief minister with regard to its pending four demands out of its seven-point charter of demands.
In an letter to the CM, the federation said that the government did not respond to its charter of demands despite memorandums having been submitted on 14 August last year and again on 7 January this year.
While acknowledging that “a few demands have been initiated by the state government,” the federation said that the key demands remain pending. These demands include enhancement of scale of pay and grade pay of all work-charged employees, including computer operators in all engineering departments of the state from Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,400; creation of work-charged posts in all engineering departments;and regularization of existing contingency/casual workers who have completed 15 years and above of service in their respective departments.
In addition to the three-point demands, the federation also demanded “1-day break.”
It said that “certain departments have been enforcing a 1-day break policy for workers annually, which is intended as a mandatory day off. However, many departments continue to engage workers on that 1-day break, while deducting one day’s wages from their salary.”
The federation demanded that “either the 1-day break be observed as a full day off without work, or no deduction be made from the wages if they work on that particular day.”
The federation in its ultimatum said that it would launch a phase-wise peaceful agitation across the state without further intimation if the government fails to fulfill its remaining four demands within 30 days.
While commending the government’s golden handshake scheme, the federation said that “no concrete action has yet been taken on the golden handshake scheme, and the eligible beneficiaries under the scheme have not yet received their entitled amount.”
It demanded that the government either disburse the amount under the scheme within 30 days or provide appointment to the next of kin/dependent of the retired workers who have attained the age of 60.
