Al Ngullie
Dimapur | June 17
The Government of Nagaland and the Confederation of All Nagaland State Service Employees’ Association (CANSSEA) has proposed “an option” each, to the other in an effort to end the stalemate over the issue of implementing the 6th Revision of Pay (or Central ‘RoP’) effecting from January 1, 2006.
A leader of the CANSSEA on Wednesday disclosed that the organization has offered to “forgo” or “surrender” all accumulated arrears if the RoP is implemented with the affecting date of January 1, 2006. On the other hand, the state government has offered to the government employees’ apex that the RoP be implemented from June 1, 2008 but without the arrears accumulated from the period January 1, 2006.
It was calculated that arrears (counted from the original effecting date of January 1, 2006) would average Rs. 3 Lakh per employee. If the estimated 80,000 of Nagaland government’s employees “surrender” the arrears (affecting from January 1, 2006) they will be ‘forgoing’ or ‘surrendering’ an approximate Rs.2, 400 Crore, it was explained.
The Nagaland government has been persistently insisting that the bad financial condition of the state can in no way allow paying arrears from the RoP of the original affecting date. As has been reiterated for some time now, the bad financial condition is understood to be the main reason the talks are unable to progress unless trimmed to a “reasonable” level. The proposals are understood to be the ‘trimmed’ conditions to break the RoP standoff.
According to the source, the proposal was made to the government on June 11, Friday. It was informed that the organization had been in parleys with both the Cabinet sub-committee on RoP headed by Urban Planning Minister Dr. Shurhozelie and the government’s administrative committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary Alemtemshi Jamir.
“If they can give us right from Jan 2006, we have proposed to forgo all our arrears,” said the source, referring to the basic proposal CANSSEA made to the state government. “Actually our arrears may vary, in average will come to 3 lakhs per employee counted from Jan 1, 2006. If we surrender our arrears then for number of employees is above 80, 000 (round figure) it will come up to Rs.2, 400 Crore we will be ‘forgoing’ or we will be ‘surrendering’ if we don’t claim our arrears,” he said.
“Actually we are waiting for the reply from the government, because we have already written a certain option under which the government can come to an agreement with us.
First, we want to avoid any agitation provided the government comes forward to meet our genuine demands,” the CANSSEA leader said.
The source said that the government had offered the government employees what was called “marginal increment, marginal fixation” if the RoP is accepted with June 1, 2008 as the effecting date. But the organization rejected this offer. “Actually, they have offered us to give marginal increment, marginal fixation from June 1, 2008, but that alone, we cannot readily agree to that alone,” the source said. The CANSSEA leader was of the opinion that “if the government can give us with incremental benefit at par with central employees … then we are ready to be very reasonable.” But, the source said, the clause for “marginal increment” attached with implementing the RoP from June 1, 2008 was not acceptable.
According to the source, the “financial position (of the state government) is very bad at the moment” and “we are trying to be very reasonable, but at the same time the government also should not suppress us too much over our reasonability.”
Queried on the exact nature of the government’s proposal to the CANSSEA the source said the state had “come down” to June 1, 2008. ‘We asked the affective date from Jan 1, 2006 but they have come down to June 1, 2008 (that was their offer) and that was also without arrears but to that extend we cannot,. It is not agreeable to us,’ the official said.
Queried on the main “option” the CANSSEA had proposed to the government, the CANSSEA official refused to disclose them “for various reasons.” He however, said that the employees’ organization is ‘ready to be reasonable.’ “We are ready to be reasonable; we also know the problems of the government; but government should also come down to certain extent where we can be agreeable to some extend,” the source said.
The official was also queried whether or not the CANSSEA had climbed down from its earlier demand that the RoP be implemented from Jan 1, 2006 with full arrears, the official said “it is not exactly like that.” Since the proposals were made to the government, there has yet to be a response. But it is expected that within this week the government “may reply us.”
