PANAJI
A day after his assurance in the House, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday met with leaders of the striking Balrath drivers and promised a substantial hike in wages prompting the latter to call off their indefinite strike.
In a relief to thousands of students who faced hardships getting to school for two days, the United Balrath Employees Association announced the withdrawal of their strike following the government's assurance.
The over 600 Balrath drivers and attendants will be back on the Balrath buses from Thursday, the association's leaders told the media here.
The government has agreed to increase the monthly wages of drivers to Rs 17,000. It was earlier Rs 11,000 and the government had partially increased it to Rs 12,000 in a modified scheme notified earlier this month. Now, the scheme will again be revised to incorporate the increase.
Similarly, the salary of the attendants/cleaners will also be increased to Rs 10,000 after the talks with the chief minister. The attendants were earlier being paid Rs 5,500.
Meanwhile, the other benefits, like an annual 5% increase, remain unchanged and the hiked salary will be applicable from June this year.
Sawant held the meeting with the association's leaders early Wednesday morning where he also agreed to consider their other demands, the association's leaders said.
The issue of the strike and the inconvenience caused to thousands of students was discussed on the opening day of the Monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly on Tuesday where members across party lines took a sympathetic view and impressed on the government to accept their demand.
