New Delhi, Feb 16: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley might announce the higher allowances on 7th pay commission this April and G connect reports that the central government employees might go on strike against 7th Pay Commission low pay hike on  March 16. As no collective decision for bringing back indefinite strike could be taken in the NJCA meeting on January 17, confederation has called on one day nationwide protest strike on March 16, 2017.

Confederation feels that since past 8 months they had been waiting after the assurances were made by the government and now there is no point of holding back.

NJCA in July 2016 had demanded of withdrawal of New Pension Scheme (NPS) or exclusion from it. On July 6, 2016, NJCA had issued a statement after the delayed strike, ” We have noted that government has made a different committee to review NPS and this affects who employees inducted into the government on or post-January 1, 2004.

Youth were happy as they were made to believe that the committee will note the demands of NJCA to cancel NPS or remove central government workers from it. But the NPS committee on discussions with the staff side JCM on February 10, the core issues like removing NPS, minimum pension to NPS subscribers etc. were absent in the discussions.

Additional Secretary, about the meeting, informed that removing of NPS was not within the purview of committee and also informed that the NPS is committee is run by the government to make NPS solid and not kill it.He also said that destroying NPS will not be fruitful and thus the Central government has dropped this idea.

Railway federation had also demanded exemption from NPS and their demands were also not met.

On June 30, 2016, Jaitley had clarified that Government has taken the decision to implement the recommendation of 7th CPC to bring the past and present pensioners on the same table.  NJCA then wrote to Rajnath Singh seeking his intervention as subject to feasibility had been imposed.

Government has taken a U-turn from the assurances made and is not ready to take the JCM staff side seriously. All the employees and pensioners are totally dissatisfied and are venting their anger on different platforms, which includes social media as well.

Few have penned down by the NJCA should bring back the postponed strike.

M. Krishnan, Secretary General, Confederation wrote since aeons we all had been waiting for a dialogue but nothing was cemented till date. He further wrote that central government employees across India are negative on the fact that government did not take up staff side JCM after the government received recommendations of Central pay commission. Krishnan lashing out at the Modi government stated that it cannot make a fool of all employees and pensioners all the times.

Other issues like GDS, Casual-Contract Labour, Equal Pay For Equal Work etc. were not discussed by the site staff NJCA.

Source :  http://www.india.com/