STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The government has lacked interest in solving the problems of state employees, said President Dwipen Sarma and Dilip Kalita, secretary general of the Sadou Asam Karmachari Parishad (SAKP). A steering committee meeting will be conducted on July 8 at 11 p.m. at the Parishad headquarters at Panjabari here to take action in support of various demands of the employees.
In a statement, President Dwipen Sarma said, “The employees are an important part of the state administration. The government has always deprived employees of their entitlements. The employees have been bringing many problems to the attention of the government for the last 10–12 years. Not all demands are for financial gains, as the government thinks. Some demands have been raised in the past few years that are only related to departmental policies and guidelines. Teachers in the State government enjoy 10 days of earned leave per year. There is no provision for medical or other leave for teachers.”
Further, the president said, “In Assam, employees do not get reimbursed for their medical expenses. For the past 10–12 years, the Parishad has been demanding an increase in teachers’ earned leave to 30 days, a free medical care scheme, and service rules for all departments. In many formal and informal discussions with the State government, some issues were agreed upon. The government has also announced several times that the medical service scheme will be implemented and made statements in the Assembly. However, this scheme has not been introduced to date. Instead, the Chief Minister has spent time saying that the scheme will be introduced in different ways at different times. The teachers have not been paid their earned leave as a vacation department. However, teachers have been harassed in various ways during the holidays for years. This is clear from the statement of the Education Minister. The council also strongly opposes the employment of teachers in training or teaching during the summer holidays.”
Sarma pointed out, “The Sadou Asam Karmachari Parishad does not want an agitation. They advocate problem-solving through dialogue. Unfortunately, the Chief Minister has not expressed any interest in holding discussions with the Parishad for the last two years. The present Executive Committee of the Parishad has been bringing the issue to the attention of the government to resolve it through dialogue since it took over last year, but the Chief Minister has not fixed a date for any discussion to date. As the Chief Minister said, the Parishad always seeks to resolve issues through discussion in the interest of the development of the state and the educational development of the students. Not only the parishad must take initiatives to create an environment free from agitation, but the government must also come forward in this regard.”
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