Not just salaries, central government employees and their state colleagues are also extremely worried about what will happen to the money they receive later in life after they have retired. While hikes in salaries are a constant refrain, employees do not want one previous thing to change - the old pension scheme. They want the government to retain it at all costs, saying any change to move to a new pension system is unacceptable. So, amid the demand for implementation of the 7th pay commission in many states, and another pay hike at the central level, government employees have taken the extreme step to highlight their demands and held a street protest on Sunday, demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme.
The employees have been protesting against the new pension scheme and staged a dharna outside the Hamirpur office of local MP Anurag Thakur demanding the restoration of the old scheme. The employees said if the old scheme was not restored then they would be compelled to launch a nation-wide stir. The employees alleged that the new scheme was launched to help big companies and that it is not beneficial for the employees.
The pay-hike related protests by government employees have been happening in various states. Recently, teachers in Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir have protested demanding pay hike. The Bihar government teachers are yet to get the 7th pay commission benefits. Recently, one lakh Uttar Pradesh government employees had staged protest and gave an ultimatum to the government over pay-related issues.
On the other hand, the central government employees have been waiting for the over and above 7th pay commission based salary hike. The employees are getting the salaries as per the fitment factor of a minimum of 2.57 times, but have demanded the hike be synchronised by a factor of 3.68 times. If the government accepts their demand, the minimum salary will rise up to Rs 26,000 from present Rs 18,000.
