Punjab CM appeals to govt employees to call off strike
Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Jul, 2021 11:21 AM
Chandigarh, July 27 (IANS) Assuring all efforts to resolve their grievances in consultation with the departments concerned, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday appealed to the striking government employees to call off their stir to prevent any further inconvenience to the public.
Chairing a high-level meeting to review the demands of the striking employees, he expressed concern over their continued agitation, which has severely impacted the functioning of various state government departments.
An official spokesman said the state government had constituted a committee of officers to look into the demands of the agitating employees.
The committee had examined, in detail, the demands of various employees associations and had submitted its report. It found that certain demands raised by the employees were linked to the decisions of the government prior to 2006 and were in no way connected with the report of the Sixth Punjab Pay Commission.
The state government has already decided to implement the recommendations of the Pay Commission with effect from July 1. This has resulted in a financial outflow of Rs 4,692 crore to approximately 2.85 lakh employees and 3.07 lakh pensioners every year.
On an average, it works out to Rs 79,250 per annum, over and above what they are getting at present. In addition, the employees and pensioners will be getting arrears of Rs 14,759 crore, which works out to an average of Rs 2.32 lakh per employee and pensioner.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal on Thursday demanded a high court monitored probe into the manner in which the Congress government in Punjab was playing with the people's lives by creating an artificial shortage of vaccines by selling vaccine doses at a hefty profit to private hospitals.
The electronic conversation took place as US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that India will receive Covid vaccines directly from the US stockpile, the White House said.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General M.M. Naravane, reached Kashmir on Wednesday on a two-day visit to review the prevailing security situation in the Union Territory (UT), the army said in a statement.
"There have been several unfounded media reports that have peddled misinformation among the masses regarding this exercise of national importance," a ministry statement said, adding that the total number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far stand at 21,85,46,667.
The Congress said that it was "appropriate for our initial statement to note that the intrusion by Israeli forces into the Holy Al Aqsa mosque during Ramzan prayers had ruptured the delicate peace in the region".
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suggested the young patients should be prioritised in the distribution of Liposomal Amphotericin B drug, used for treating black fungus, "as they hold promise of future over the older ones who have lived their lives".
