State government asks Joint Associations Forum to call off stir

Warns of strong action against erring employees

Dimapur, Dec. 4 (EMN): A day after the Joint Associations Forum (JAF), a conglomeration of four associations, issued a press release stating that it wouldn’t end the ongoing stir, the state government has now asked the forum to immediately call off the agitation, failing which, it said, would be forced to take stringent action against the erring employees.

Chief Secretary Temjen Toy said while briefing DIPR officials that the government has duly examined the demands made by the forum but could not be acceded due to some glitches, informed a statement issued to the media on Wednesday.

The state government had constituted Pay Anomalies Committee to examine the issues “arising out of the of the Nagaland Services (Revision of Pay) Rules, 2017 only”, said the statement. It was also observed after examining the committee’s report ‘that though no anomalies per se were directly caused by the said Revision of Pay Rules, the committee concerned had recommended, in the interest of rationalisation of pay-scales in certain cases, for upgrade to higher pay-levels in respect of some categories of employees’.

“In this context, it would be pertinent to mention that the Revision of Pay Rules of 1984 and 1993 had granted pay-scales,  higher than the corresponding ones,  to a limited category of employees and this included many of the group of employees for whom pay-up gradations had again been recommended by the Pay Anomalies Committee,” read the statement.

‘In the case of those employees, recommended by the Pay Anomalies Committee for pay upgrade and were not given higher than corresponding pay scales in the previous ROPs, they were not subjected to any disadvantages at any stage, inclusive of the ROP Rules, 2017,’ it stated, adding that upgrading to higher pay scales as recommended by the committee “cannot be accepted as it will amount to giving preferential treatment to a group of employees”.

The chief secretary asserted that employees who have faced pay-scales issues with reference to their equal rank employees can specifically project such cases to the government for consideration. He went on to say that every association has the right to voice their grievances in a constitutional and procedural manner but the “government would not tolerate such agitation by a section of employees as is being presently resorted to by the JAF”.

He stated that it is unfortunate that government employees have got into the “habit of only demanding their so-called rights, whereas their behaviour and performance as worthy government employees have been pathetic”. He lamented that the patience and leniency shown by the government has been misinterpreted by its employees as impotence or lack of will to take appropriate action.

Toy said the government would be “compelled to take the strongest action as the demands made by the forum are not justified, unreasonable and amounts to demanding preferential treatment”. He added that there are many efficient unemployed youths who can deliver and perform better than many of the deadwood who are presently serving in the government.

The statement went on to say that an office memorandum had been issued to all directorate and districts directing them to send reports on individual absentees to the Secretary P&AR. It added the state government has, in another notification, asked the JAF to immediately call off the agitation and resume work, failing which action will be initiated against each erring employee individually.