More than four lakh employees hired by the Gujarat government on fixed pay for five years for various positions in police, education, revenue departments and other clerical positions have threatened a mass agitation if the Gujarat government does not stop their “exploitation” and pay them regular salary and other perks.
On Sunday, thousands of employees held a rally in the State capital, Gandhinagar, demanding that they be regularised by January 7. Failing this, they will start an agitation to disrupt the Vibrant Gujarat Summit scheduled from January 10 to 13, they said.
The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) headed by Hardik Patel, who spearheaded the quota agitation, Jignesh Mewani, who led a Dalit agitation, and Alpesh Thakor, who represents OBC communities, have also supported the cause and accused the State government of “exploiting” the youth in the name of fixed pay. “The Gujarat government is exploiting the youth by hiring them on fixed pay, which is unconstitutional,” said youth activist Pravin Ram, who launched a statewide forum to organise the employees to raise their voice. Their main demand is to abolish the system of fixed pay, he said.
In 2012, the Gujarat High Court had slammed the State government for its fixed-pay policy, asking it to regularise all employees and pay the arrears from the date they were recruited on. However, the government, headed by the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, had challenged the ruling in the Supreme Court, which is currently hearing the case.
After Sunday’s rally in Gandhinagar, Gujarat government on Monday announced that it would soon “take a major decision in favour of employees hired on fixed pay.”
“The State government will file an affidavit in the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear the case on January 10. The government is committed to resolve the issue,” Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel told the media on Monday.