Arunachal Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Friday said the state government is in no mood to bow down to any of the tactics instigated by the Confederation of Service Associations of Arunachal Pradesh (CoSAAP). He said the government has done enough to address most of the demands of the organization.
Referring to the ongoing agitation of CoSAAP, Mein, while addressing the employees of the district secretariat here said the government has already fulfilled the demands of the association like enhancement of retirement age in spite of opposition from various quarters and most importantly the implementation of 7th Pay Commission recommendations, which is the first in North East.
Demanding various allowances like House Rent Allowance (HRA), New Travelling Allowance (TA) and Tough Location Allowance (TLA) at par with the All India Services (AIS) employees, the CoSAAP has launched a series of non-cooperation movements against the government from October 11.
The deputy chief minister said 70 per cent of funds that the state government gets are being allocated for salaries while a meagre 30 per cent is only left to undertake other welfare and development activities.
He added that the government was bound to spend consciously so that overdraft could be avoided and the government cannot take random decisions which may later become a financial burden for the state.
“The government will do everything possible for the welfare of its employees provided it is within the capacity of available revenue and resources,” Mein announced.
The deputy chief minister said the government is very clear about CoSAAP’s intentions and it will not be budged by their actions.
Appealing the state government employees to support and cooperate with the government, Mein at the same time warned that the ones not ready to do so should be ready to face the consequences in terms of action as per rules. Also present in the meeting was deputy commissioner Dr Tapasya Raghav and other heads of departments.
Besides demanding the 7th CPC allowances in toto, the other demands of the CoSAAP include immediate restoration of All India Medical Attendance Rule, NOC system to be implemented to all the citizens rather than making it limited to state government employees or withdraw the system completely etc.
Meanwhile, the chief secretary’s office on Friday said that ‘day two’ of the ongoing non-cooperation democratic movement launched by Confederation of Service Associations of Arunachal Pradesh (CoSAAP) against the government had less or no impact on any of the offices of the state.
As per reports received from various quarters, all offices in the entire state government departments were functioning in a normal manner. Reports have also been received from the deputy commissioners for as Lower Siang, Tawang, Namsai, Lower Dibang Valley, Yupia, West Kameng etc stating that all officers and officials attended their respective offices on Friday and the offices functioned as usual.
“A few sporadic instances of employees participating in the pen/tool down agitation were reported and accordingly dies non with resultant break in service has been initiated against such delinquent employees. The government of Arunachal Pradesh is committed to employees’ welfare, transparency and efficient delivery of public services. The government has firmly resolved to undertake all necessary steps and actions to ensure that the progress and development of the state is not hampered and so is the well being of its people,” a statement issued from the chief secretary’s office said.
It was further informed that chief secretary in-charge Dr Ashish Chandra Verma inspected various offices of the Capital Complex on Friday and mobile teams which were constituted to look into the situation carried out their checks to ensure that there was zero participation in the pen/tool down agitation.