PANAJI
Employees from the Goa Government Employees Association (GGEA) following a working committee meeting held on Thursday have decided to call off their strike, satisfied with the government notification on the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission.
The Association had on November 7 issued a 21-day strike notice saying they would take to the streets if the government had not passed an official order to the implementation of the commission. The order was passed on November 30.
GGEA have, however, decided to take on a milder version of their strike for their other demands. They have said their fight for other issues including parity in pay scale to all government employees, grant of Group C status to all Group D employees appointed after 2006 and complete stoppage of all service extensions and re-employment of retired government employees will continue, but through other available democratic norms.
Announcing the protest, GGEA president John Nazareth said, “We have planned to hold a symbolic protest at Patto on December 7 opposite the Panaji bus stand and highlight these issues.”
The working committee also, however, said they were displeased with the government imposing a three-year lock in period for the arrears of the Seventh Pay Commission for the period of January 2016 to December 2016 that would be credited into the GPF accounts of the government employees. They also expressed displeasure that the interest bearing advances like Motor Car Advance and Motorcycle/Scooter/Moped Advances had been discontinued.
