Staff union flays government on pay disparity

Terms as unacceptable the decision to deny new pay scales to staff of 19 society colleges

The Confederation of Puducherry Government Employees’ Associations on Thursday said the decision of the Cabinet to exclude teachers attached to the society-run colleges from the purview of the recommendations of the seventh pay commission was “disappointing.”

In a statement, confederation’s honorary president C.H. Balamohanan said the exclusion of the teachers from 19 society-run colleges from getting the seventh pay commission’s recommendations was “unacceptable.” Like other government employees, the teachers belonging to society run colleges had been waiting for the new pay scale for over 13 years.

Mr. Balamohanan said the decision of the government to provide new pay scale only to teachers belonging to directly administered colleges was “regrettable.”

The Cabinet had decided to include the employees of the Pondicherry Industrial Promotion Development and Investment Corporation Ltd., Pondicherry Distilleries and Pondicherry Power Corporation Ltd.

Demands ignored

However, the employees of Pondicherry Planning Authority (PPA) had been excluded from the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations. The PPA was a profit-making public sector undertaking, he said and added that the government should not ignore the demands of employees working in the planning authority.

Mr. Balamohan urged the government to abandon the move to issue licence to private players to import sand. Instead of issuing licence to private players, the government should have involved the Port Department to import sand.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, Mr. Balamohan said the Port Department had the requisite manpower and facility to import and handle sale of sand.

The union territory government should have involved the Department of Public Works, the Department of Rural Development, Slum Clearance Board, Puducherry Housing Board and Adi Dravidar Development Corporation for the use of imported sand.

The sand could have been sold through the sales outlets of Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Cooperative Building Centre to individuals, the letter added.