Report of Mazdoor Ekta Committee (MEC) correspondent
Under the leadership of the All-Rajasthan State Employees Joint Federation, government employees in the state are undertaking a Sangharsh Chetana Yatra through 42 districts and 300 tehsils from 5 to 30 November, in preparation for the struggle for their 11-point demands.
These are their main demands:
- The Old Pension Scheme should be continued in Rajasthan.
- By implementing the policy of equal pay for equal work for employees working in the state government, boards, corporations, autonomous institutions, panchayati raj and cooperative institutions, and by resolving various discrepancies in the previous pay scales, the minimum salary of employees should be fixed at Rs. 20,000.
- The arrears of dearness allowance from January 2020 to June 2021 should be paid in cash.
- Rural allowance of 10% of the basic salary should be sanctioned to employees in rural areas.
- State employees, employees of boards, corporations, panchayati raj, and autonomous institutions should be given five promotion opportunities during their service period.
- All contract and outsourced employees should be regularized.
- All vacant posts should be filled through regular appointments.
- Assistant staff should be declared MTS, and the minimum salary should be increased to Rs 26,000.
- Ministerial employees should be provided salary, allowances, promotion and other facilities as per the ministerial employees working in the government secretariat, public service commission, and legislative assembly.
- A transparent and clear transfer policy should be implemented for state employees in accordance with the transfer policy of banks/insurance.
- Privatisation/PPP model-based arrangements should be abolished.
- New Education Policy 2020 should be cancelled.
- Police service personnel and emergency service employees should be given weekly leave and their working hours should be fixed.
Notably, under the leadership of All-Rajasthan State Employees Joint Federation, employees across the state have been repeatedly requesting the government for talks regarding their demands and for resolving their problems for the last two years. However, the government has not paid attention to these demands, leading to anger among employees against the government. As a result, the Federation has decided to organize a Sangharsh Chetna Yatra across Rajasthan to prepare employees for the struggle.
The Sangharsh Chetna Yatra has been organized into two groups. Senior retired employee leader Hanuman Prasad Sharma, former state president of the Gram Sevak Sangh Sitaram Sharma, and former state president of the Mahasangh Om Prakash Sharma flagged off the yatra from Jaipur.
The first group of the Sangharsh Chetna Yatra will pass through the districts of Dausa, Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, etc. The second group will head towards Churu, Nuh, Hanumangarh, Sriganganagar, Suratgarh, and Bikaner.
When the yatra reached Nohar, workers’ leaders Hanuman Prasad Sharma, Amar Singh Saran, Sudarshan Arya, State General Secretary of the Federation Mahavir Singh Sihag, State Treasurer Prahlad Jat, State Vice President Dharmendra Phogat, General Secretary of Teachers Union Progressive Anand Gupta addressed it.
The next strategy is to invite comrades from the tehsil and district levels to a meeting in Jaipur on 14 December. Further action plans will be announced at that meeting.
Organizations supporting the campaign include: Rajasthan Housing Board Employees Union; Rajasthan Nurses Association; All Rajasthan State Agricultural Supervisors’ Organization; Rajasthan Veterinary Employees Union; Rajasthan Assistant Employees Union; Rajasthan Panchayati Raj and Secondary Education Union; Rajasthan Village Development Officers Union; Rajasthan Assistant and Additional Development Officers Union; Rajasthan Patwari Union; Rajasthan Lawyers’ Union; Rajasthan Teachers’ Union (Shekhawat); Rajasthan Teachers’ Union (Progressive); Rajasthan Teachers’ Union (Progressive-Choudhary); Rajasthan Drivers and Technical Employees Union; Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Employees Union; Provincial Tap Workers Union; Rajasthan Ayurveda Nurses’ Association (Progressive); Rajasthan Ministerial Services Association; Rajasthan Ayurveda Operator Union; Rajasthan Forest Subordinate Employees Union; Rajasthan Agriculture Graduates’ Union; Rajasthan Statistics Subordinate Employees Union; Rajasthan Forest Workers Union; Rajasthan Physical Teachers’ Union (Choudhary); Rajasthan Physical Teachers’ Union (Chahar); Rajasthan Parateachers’ Union; Rajasthan Animal Husbandry Assistant Technical Employees Union; Rajasthan Land Inspectors’ Union; Rajasthan Land Surveyors’ Union; Rajasthan Subordinate Computer Employees Union; Rajasthan ANM and LHV Union; Rajasthan Dairy Employees Union; Rajasthan Ganganagar Sugar Mills Association; Rajasthan Stenographers Association.